Palma plaza row: Podemos alleges double standards

A row over Palma’s Plaza de Cort is growing after Podemos accused Mayor Jaime Martínez of applying different rules to public events. Councillor Lucía Muñoz spoke out after Martínez called for people to attend a solidarity rally for Ceuta in the square on 2 September. She says the mayor’s position clashes with the refusal, a few weeks earlier, of a planned ‘sopar a la fresca’ event by the group Brunzzit.

A square said to be too busy

According to Muñoz, the city rejected the Brunzzit event because Plaza de Cort was already hosting too many activities. She says that reason cannot sit with a new rally in the same space backed by the mayor.

“If Cort was overcrowded, it should be overcrowded regardless of who calls the event,” Muñoz said. She argued that the square and Palma City Hall belong to the public, not to the mayor.

Ceuta rally draws political criticism

Muñoz also accused Martínez of using the Ceuta solidarity rally for party political purposes. She said he was linking events in the autonomous city to the arrival of migrants on the islands while attacking the Government.

Showing solidarity with Ceuta was one thing, she said, but using it to portray immigration as a threat and feed a racist message was another. Muñoz called for clear, equal rules on the use of public spaces, regardless of who is organising an event or why.

Topics: Migration · Politics · Palma

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com