Palma housing: new Palma XXI chief puts locals first

Palma, Mallorca, faces a major housing challenge: Maria del Mar Socias takes over Palma XXI on Tuesday and says the city must put the people who live there first. The former vice-president replaces Jaume Garau at the association’s tenth-anniversary gathering at the Estudi General Lul·lià, according to Palma XXI.

Socias says gentrification has spread from the city centre into other neighbourhoods. Access to housing is now one of Palma’s biggest challenges, she says, and the city needs to be a place people can live in.

Garau, who helped found Palma XXI in 2016, says the effects of tourism and difficulty finding housing were already becoming clear then. The association also looked at transport, public space and climate change. Many of those pressures have since intensified, he says, with direct effects on everyday life in Palma.

At the anniversary gathering, Palma XXI also names Tina Codina an honorary member for her cultural work and community projects. Founding members Garau and Climent Picornell look back at the city’s changes over the past decade and the challenges still ahead.

Topics: Palma

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com