Thousands of people took part this Sunday in separate protests in Palma and Ibiza against the airport expansion plans. In Palma, the demonstration drew about 500 people, who also rejected the regional government’s policies to promote tourism.
“No more expansion, no more promotion,” chanted the protest participants, who set out from the Government Delegation and marched to the Consolat de Mar to reject AENA’s growth forecasts for the coming years and, at the same time, to express their opposition to what they consider the inconsistency of the Balearic Government, for defending austerity while opening new routes to destinations like Abu Dhabi and Canada.
The march took place just a few days after the investment forecasts and passenger growth figures – up to 50 million in 2031 across all airports in the Balearic Islands – were revealed in the DORA III Airport Planning Document.
In statements to the media, the spokesperson for the Platform Against Airport Expansion, Pere Joan Femenia, has warned of a tourist and climate ‘collapse’ in AENA’s forecasts for the coming years. The main demands include a reduction in the number of flights, a limit on private flights – 23,000 for the entire Balearic archipelago by 2025 – and the approval of the co-management law, since, as they have pointed out, “the first step to reducing activity is to have decision-making power.” Femenia has accused AENA of lying and pointed out that the 66-flights-per-hour limit in Palma has been exceeded on 18 occasions.
During the march, other slogans were heard, such as “AENA is to blame, the politicians are responsible” and “their promotion, our congestion.” The protest ended in front of the regional government headquarters, where a manifesto was read criticizing both AENA and the regional government, which are accused, respectively, of increasing investment and growth forecasts, and of continuing policies to promote the destination by opening new routes.
The protesters have also rejected what they consider to be elitist rhetoric, insisting that “luxury tourism is not the solution.” They have also shown their solidarity with local residents affected by the airport, such as those in Colonia de Sant Jordi, and have called for an end to night flights. “It is unacceptable that planes continue to fly over our homes after midnight,“ Femenia declared in her speech before the protest began.
In this regard, before the Consulate, a representative of the residents of Colonia de Sant Jordi spoke up, stating that since the second runway was opened in the 1970s, the disturbance has been constant. A representative of the Federation of Neighbors’ Associations of Palma also spoke, rejecting the big event policies promoted in recent years with the aim, among other things, of turning Palma “into an open-air nightclub.”
A representative from the Son Bonet Pulmó Verd group also spoke out to oppose the proposed solar park in this green space in Marratxí. The woman spoke with a clear foreign accent, which was met with chants of “in Mallorcan.” Several representatives from political parties such as MÉS per Mallorca, Podemos, and Coalició per Mallorca attended the demonstration. Former Balearic Government Vice President Juan Pedro Yllanes was also present.
Massive protests in Ibiza
Meanwhile in Ibiza, the protest against the airport expansion brought together about 2,000 people. The protest, organized by the Ibiza Youth Association, began at Passeig Vara de Rey and wound its way through the city’s main streets. During the march, participants held up signs with slogans such as ‘Aena to the scrap heap’ and ‘For a livable Ibiza’.
Once at Reina Sofía Park, the organizers read a manifesto in which they emphasized that the planned renovation project at Ibiza Airport would lead to an “excessive and unsustainable growth in tourist capacity.“
According to their statements, what Aena really intends is to expand the facilities to “encourage congestion and increase the number of visitors to the Pitiüses,” turning the airport “into a cash cow from which only a few privileged ones will benefit.”
The group has reiterated that it questions a model based on the extraction of natural and social resources, in which the benefits of tourism are no longer reflected in the well-being of the local population.
In total, about 50 organizations have signed this manifesto, calling for a voice in decision-making “because we all have the right to decide about our territory.” “We don’t want a bigger Ibiza; we want a livable Ibiza,” they have stated.
