Why Palma needs some TLC and fast
Palma, once a shining jewel, is now in need of renewal
Palma was once voted the best place to live in the world by the readers of The Sunday Times. It is still a fantastic to visit and live, but I fear it is being left behind by other capital cities in Spain. There does appear to be a lack of investment. Take the Paseo Maritimo, it was a golden opportunity to give the main city promenade a real lift. Imagine, if successive city councils had the courage to seal the Paseo Maritimo off to all but essential traffic and create a giant park with bars and restaurants just next to the seafront.
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Palma is a shit tip and needs an update in most areas.
In Palma'More kudos should be given to the current mayor and EMAYA for having removed almost all grafitti in Palma Oldtown the last year. ' Is this a joke? You obviously don't go to Palma old town very often as I doubt even 5% of the graffiti was removed.
As Jason writes, more could have been achieved when renovating the Paseo Maritimo etc. Nevertheless, it represents a clear improvement particularly when everything is completed in October, including the Plaça Santo Domingo. The same is the case for Plaça Espanya. And the part of Parc Mar which was renovated is clearly improved. More kudos should be given to the current mayor and EMAYA for having removed almost all grafitti in Palma Oldtown the last year. It has been a remarkable transformation of the city. Truly wonderful to the see the city being cleaned up and the destruction of the city’s cultural and historical heritage being brought to an end. This achievement deserves better coverage in MDB.
The paseo marítimo development is a nice improvement for a walk, but fundamentally didn't go far enough for the local populous and tourism from the port to the city. They had an opportunity to include some form of electric transit system in between the traffic lanes. As it currently stands, its an incomplete mess that is already causing challenges — I saw the other day a new drinking fountain filled with beer bottles and cans and other remnants of a waterside (or boat??) party, due to a lack of litter bins. The Plaza de España renovation... was that an improvement considering the cost? Has it bought about any significant change, no. Next up is Plaza Mayor, whenever that gets underway. And there are many other parts of the city that really need considered investment and not just aesthetic enhancement. Social infrastructure north of Plaza de España that is not just housing. I'm aware that Son Busquets is listed for development, but that's likely to become homogenous housing with little thought for the possibility of creating a new district with real societal benefit. The possibility to challenge tradition and remove the horse carriages — animals really deserve a better life — and do something interesting with the Coliseum that doesn't involve animal torture or disturbing the neighbours with music festivals. The rest of the city is bearing the weight of pre-high season traffic as per usual, but there is a lot of the city that looks tired with poorly maintained properties and empty construction plots or intensive renovations in progress, each giving the city a lacklustre. The lack of control of the increasing number of unlicensed street traders doesn't help matters. But place all of this in the context of a continual global economic recession under the guide of 'cost of living crisis' leading to investors to play the long game outside the city centre. The political infighting within the council isn't going to help make any good decisions anytime soon. Economic instability, political fractures, lack of long-term vision all contribute to gradual decline. The city has its gems, but they need to be kept polished in order to really shine.
The level of graffiti everywhere is disgusting only Lisbon is worse