The Festival of the Standard, which celebrates the taking of Madina Mayurqa (Palma) by King Jaume I on December 31, 1229, is an occasion for mayors to deliver speeches. On Sunday, Jaime Martínez gave his first.
The mayor called for a city that is "more open to tourism and aimed at promoting the quality of life of its residents". Advocating a sustainable city - socially, economically and culturally - he said that Palma has to recover its status as a municipality designed for people. "We want Palma to be the best city in the world to live in. And if we achieve this, it will also be the best city in the world to visit."
"A welcoming, friendly and sustainable city", Palma has to recover its reputation as a reference tourist destination in the Mediterranean and in Europe as a whole. Tourism, Martínez stressed, is the economic activity that contributes to the greatest extent in creating job and business opportunities.
"But the success of this formula depends, fundamentally, on Palma's ability to improve security and cleanliness as well as its provision of services, among which culture and sports occupy a prominent place.
"Palma has to be a clean and well-kept city 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, in the same way that it has to be a safe city, where residents and visitors can walk without being afraid of crime and anti-social behaviour." The mayor highlighted "the achievement" of a new local police model, one that is closer to the residents and is in the neighbourhoods.
He referred to the first actions taken after he became mayor in the spring - essential aspects of the city's day-to-day life, such as the cleaning and maintenance of streets and squares. "Areas of intervention in which outstanding improvements have already been achieved."
Martínez pointed out that there has been huge population growth over the past twenty years. This has created "emergencies" in terms of housing, coexistence, mobility and economic diversification, but the town hall must work for equality and to take into account all the people who, from different parts of the world, have chosen to live in Palma.