In Palma on Saturday, around a hundred people gathered to form a human chain to protest against town hall plans to build a large underground car park by the GESA Building. They reiterated demands made for years by residents' groups to conserve and improve the only remaining green space along the city's seafront.
The architectural competition for the GESA Building ends on the first of April; this includes the construction of the car park and a two-storey building.
The organisers of the protest, with the support of Palma's Federation of Residents Associations, argued that the old office building is more than sufficient to house new facilities. The seafront is part of the city's heritage and should be improved without sacrificing space for new infrastructure, such as the car park.
They demanded a halt to the competition before a decision has been made regarding the exact uses of the area. The town hall, they maintained, is trying to claim there is a participatory process, "when everything has already been decided".
The role of the competition jury's role, they note, is to technically evaluate the submitted projects based on predefined criteria, ones that "do not align with the criteria the residents have been advocating for years". On Wednesday, the town hall agreed to include a residents' representative on the jury.