Mallorca group quits two Balearic memory panels
Mallorca’s Memòria de Mallorca is quitting two Balearic memory panels alongside groups from Ibiza, Formentera and Menorca. The three groups made the decision after a meeting on Thursday, 22 October. They say the Balearic government often acts before the panels can review its plans, then leaves their proposals unanswered.
The groups are withdrawing from the panel for graves and missing people and the panel for democratic memory and recognition. They accuse the government of drawing up plans for graves without them, failing to answer their questions and not telling them about steps linked to the repeal of the democratic memory law. They also say some government actions fall outside the current legal framework.
One proposal they say was ignored called for monuments in the streets of Palma, Mallorca, to remember more than 2,000 victims of forced disappearance and more than 6,000 people killed in bombing raids by fascist aircraft flying from Mallorca to other places. Memòria de Mallorca says a reference to the 1936 coup was also left out of the Columbario de la Dignidad, despite a verbal assurance that it had been included.
Maria Antònia Oliver, president of Memòria de Mallorca, also points to the removal of the Directorate-General for Democratic Memory and the office supporting victims of Franco’s regime and their families. The groups say they could return if the panels’ working practices change and their original roles are restored.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com