I suspect that the President of the Balearic government Francina Armengol got a rather nasty wake-up call yesterday morning. The protest by bar and restaurant staff, furious with her lockdown measures, had been banned by the Central Government Delegate in Palma but it still went ahead.
An estimated 1,500 people took part and they certainly made their point. Support for the Balearic government and their restrictive measures appears to be dropping, so much so, that Armengol actually produced a video, which was posted on social media, explaining why her government had been forced to order the closure of bars and restaurants across Mallorca. She said that her government did understand the concerns of bar and restaurant owners but they had been forced into this action because of the growing number of cases.
It is a fair assessment which will be understood by most, but there is growing disquiet and concern about the restrictive measures. Closing the bars, restaurants and large shopping centres effectively turned the capital into a ghost town yesterday. Perhaps that was the idea and it suddenly succeeded. After almost a year of restrictive measures I think the majority of us would like to see an end in sight. At the moment this is not the case. One thing is clear; Armengol this time last year was a relatively popular politician but now I doubt that she would be re-elected. She has shown leadership and she has been willing to take unpopular decision in the interest of public health.