The timing could not have been better to interview Palma’s Councillor for Culture, Sport and Tourism, Javier Bonet. It was the day of the inauguration of one the largest exhibitions of work by the famous artist Joan Miró, who lived and died in Mallorca, in modern times. Paysage Miró features over 100 objects of art and is on show at four different locations in Palma until November. The exhibition is a perfect example of why Palma is bidding to be European Capital of Culture in 2031 under the slogan “Mediterrànea in Motion”. “There are a host of reasons why Palma deserves to be the European Capital of Culture,” Bonet said. “Apart from the city’s deep and rich heritage, it is enjoying a cultural revival like never before. I recently commented that Palma is very much in fashion and that’s for a number of reasons.
Excellent museums
We’ve got excellent museums, galleries, exhibition centres, festivals and theatres with first-class programmes, both in the private and public sectors, within easy access of the city centre. And I’m not just referring to art. I’m talking culture as a whole and that encompasses music, film, literature, fashion and, for the first time, we’re all rowing in the right direction, which is not only unique but vital in our bid to be chosen,” he said.
There is also the question of funding
“Winning the bid comes with a financial prize of 1.5 million euros, but the investment required in a project of this scale is between 40 and 50 million euros - private and public. Public funds will obviously come from Palma City Council, the Council of Mallorca, the Balearic government and all of local municipalities as part of their own cultural programmes. But there is also a lot of private investment. Everybody wants to be part of a city which is the cultural capital of Europe,” he explained. “And the fact that we’re an island means that all of Mallorca is getting behind, has got behind, the project. Palma can’t do it on its own, it needs to move forward hand in hand with all the towns and villages on the island and we’re working extremely hard. We have to submit the first outline of the project in November. That runs to some 60 pages and will be studied by a jury of 10 members selected by the European Commission and two others selected by the Ministry for Culture. Then we’ll get a call from the ministry in Madrid to mount a presentation and support our candidature during a period of 45 minutes. Once all of the competing cities have gone through the first phase, the commission will narrow it all down to three cities which will go through to the second phase in June 2026, which is when a much more complete and informative pitch of the project has to be presented, appear before the jury again and then they’ll make the final decision.
Palma will win
“It’s been 15 years since Spain was in the running so competition is tough. Palma is up against the likes of Granada, Las Palmas, Burgos, Toledo, Cáceres and Oviedo, for example. However, to date, they’ve only expressed an interest. Come November we’ll really know which other cities are in the running. The last city was San Sebastian and we hope the next will be Palma.” he added. “And Palma will win because of the reasons I mentioned at the beginning. But above all, Palma is going to win because of the united cultural front the city and the island has created.
“We’re all working round the table together with no political interests, the sole aim is to win. And as we continue working on our bid, everyone is welcome to come forward and help in any shape or form.
“And we’re lucky that Palma, Mallorca as a whole, has always played a huge and important part in the lives of artists, singers, musicians, filmmakers - local and international - so all their support, even if it’s just verbal, is magnificent, as all the help we’re receiving is more than welcome.
“One perfect example of just how diverse and important culture is on the island is that Palma is the only city to have introduced gastronomy in its bid and we’re the only city that can showcase the Mediterranean diet, which is an art form in itself,” Bonet said.
“This is our moment because all around the world, in all the big cities at all the various trade fairs and events, everyone is asking what’s happening in Palma and Mallorca this year?
“We’ve made a huge effort to promote and foster culture, and culture is an attraction like no other. This is one of the main motives of the Palma bid. Thanks to culture, we want to transform the tourism model of the city and the island. We want to get away from antisocial tourism, we want to move away from tourists who don’t respect the environment and we believe that a tourist who is interested in culture, interested in gastronomy, heritage and architecture is a tourist who respects the people who live here and the destination in general,” the councillor made clear.
Future of tourism
“What we want to also create is a model for tourism which is real and one which the European Commission will value and consider as an example for other cities in Europe suffering problems with tourism in its various forms such as Venice or Paris. So we need to have a project which will transform the future of tourism. Yes, we consider Palma to be the cultural capital and also a shop window for the future of tourism. Yes, the bid is a roadmap for the future of tourism in Europe and around the world and how it can be changed and improved for the benefit of everyone.
“We want to have the world-leading tourism model,” he stressed. “It’s not enough to say we want to change the model, you’ve got to actually do something,” Bonet added.
“With regard to tourism this year in Palma it’s difficult to make an exact comment. We don’t have any concrete figures and we will not until the end of the season. But we have had input and comments from both the restaurant and hotel sectors. It appears that the restaurants have suffered a significant drop in revenue this year. That said, according to the restaurant sector, people want to come to Mallorca so much so they are prepared to pay more for their flights and hotels but that leaves them with less money in their pockets. But I want to repeat, we can’t evaluate anything until we have concrete data and figures. What we have seen is that traffic access to Palma this year is easier and that the beaches are functioning better, so I think we’re moving in the right direction to achieve our goal, and that is to make the best use of all of our resources so that we can all coexist in harmony,” he said.
One of the many world famous artists to have played a crucial part in the cultural history of Palma and Mallorca is Joan Miró. “This city owes a huge debt to Miró. He was one of the most important artists in the world in history and he chose to come and live and create in Palma, Mallorca.
“In 1978, a few years before his death in 1983, La Lonja hosted a spectacular exhibition which was opened by the former king and queen. But since then Palma has not held an exhibition on that scale or quality, which is why we’ve organised this exhibition. We felt it was time we all paid tribute to the great artist again. There are 120-plus works of his art which makes it one of the largest Miró exhibitions ever to have been seen and it puts Palma on the map with cities like Seoul, Tokyo, Washington, which are all currently planning Miró exhibitions,” he said.
London
“And that works in our favour. Many year ago, Palma decided to stop promoting sun and beach tourism and ever since we’ve focused on promoting culture, gastronomy, sport and the environment. It is true that over the past few years, especially this year in New York, we’ve been promoting the city to the US market. We’ve got the daily flights in the summer and, according to United Airlines, it’s one of their most profitable, so there’s further room for development there we believe. But thanks to people like Miró, Mallorca has always had an international reputation and obviously we want to capitalise on that as we move forward with the new model for tourism.
“We’re seeing that in the US market, the key attractions are culture, gastronomy and the history. That said, between now and when we have to make submit our first bid, we have the World Travel Market in London, so we will make sure to use that as a platform for our bid and share our project and thinking with the British market,” he said. “We are not looking for more tourists, but for coexistence and quality of life. This project is designed for the people who live here, the residents. It’s not about growth in numbers, but in the quality of life from the grassroots, with culture as the driving force and the well-being of citizens as the priority.”
For more information: www.palma2031.eu