Residents and businesses in Playa de Palma have spoken recently about setting up a separate administration for the resort area. As they look forward with concern to what they believe could be one of the worst ever summers because of bad behaviour, they are wanting to deal with the "years of failed promises" about improvements.
Legal services for the group "Por una Playa de Palma Cívica" are studying ways in which an administration could be established. A separate town hall would not be possible without changes to state and regional laws, but there could well be a mechanism for creating an autonomous administrative entity. Biel Barceló, president of the Ciutat de S'Arenal citizens association, says that this would allow them to take their own decisions and to have greater independence.
Barceló adds that both Palma and Llucmajor town halls have shown themselves to be "historically incapable of solving problems in the area". The time has come, therefore, to act. He expects that the legal services will provide the information necessary for a solid argument to be made in favour of an autonomous entity.
Once there is a clearer idea of what this might entail, Barceló explains that there will be campaigns to spread information and to get signatures for a petition. Residents groups, he notes, can count on the clear backing of the main business associations - those for the hoteliers and restaurants.
In Playa de Palma, there are some 40,000 residents, a population roughly equivalent to that of Manacor and around 9,000 fewer than Calvia. Barceló describes the area as being like "a city between two cities". An autonomous entity would require coordination between the town halls in Palma and Llucmajor, but Barceló believes that with its own budget, it could tackle issues such as obsolescence and security more effectively than at present.
Of crucial importance would be the policing. Dealing with drunken tourism and illegal selling are just two of the issues in Playa de Palma, and both manifested themselves on Sunday night. There was a large gathering of tourists who were drinking by "Schinkenstrasse". This was street drinking, which is meant to be prohibited. There were also numerous illegal sellers, but there was no sign of the police. Later, and into the early hours of Monday, dozens of tourists were shouting on the promenade. Most of them were drunk. And still there was no police presence.