The Labour Day march in Palma started at midday on Sunday. Batucada drummers accompanied some 500 people who set off from Plaça Espanya to Parc de la Mar. The main unions had been predicting twice this number.
Among those taking part was the Balearic president, Francina Armengol. Before the march started, she stressed that it has been possible to "break with the mantra of the right", which is that there can only be economic recovery through the destruction of labour rights.
Lorenzo Navarro, the general secretary of the UGT union in the Balearics, said that this was a day to celebrate achievements but to also demand improvements for the working class and families. "We are returning to the streets this first of May so as to celebrate everything that we have achieved - labour reform, the pension agreement and the rise in the minimum wage - but we are also demanding solutions to inflation, and this will only happen by raising salaries and controlling prices."
Antonia Jover, coordinator for Podemos in the Balearics, echoed the demand for pay increases. "A record season is expected. In view of this, we are calling for the salaries of workers in the tourism sector, the ones who have suffered most because of the pandemic, to be raised."