The full council meeting in Palma yesterday approved the change to the official name of the city. It will now revert to being Palma and not Palma de Mallorca. The approval will be referred to the Balearic parliament in order that it can give definitive approval of the change under the law governing regional and provincial capital cities.
The proposal for the change was originally made by the three parties which form the town hall administration - PSOE, Més and Som Palma (Podemos) - and had been an initiative agreed at the start of the current period of office. It was one to reverse the decision of the previous administration of the Partido Popular by which Palma de Mallorca was adopted, something which attracted criticisms from both PSOE and Més.
Miquel Perelló, the councillor for culture, explained that the initial proposal for the change was then considered in October during a meeting of the committee for toponymy (place names), with the intention that it should be forwarded to the full council in order to restore the official name of Palma. A report into the name from the University of the Balearic Islands had also been requested.
Perelló expects the whole process to require a maximum of two more months. "We will be able to recover and not change the name that this city has always had. It is the genuine name and toponymy of the city. It has always been Palma. From the times of the Romans." The previous administration had made the change solely for tourism reasons, he said, and for those who are not from these islands.
The Partido Popular is expected to contest the motion when it is put to parliament.