Palma, the city of 1´000 languages

Joan Collins PALMA is a multicultural city. In fact, there are districts where there are more than 80 different nationalities. Camp de Serralta has residents from more than 81 different countries, El Terreno 80, Bons Aires 79, Cala Major also 79, Plaza de Toros 73, Son Cotoner also 73 and Sant Jaume 70. At the other end of the scale there are areas which have only a small percentage of foreigners, such as Son Riera (Son Banya), and Son Malferit where there are no foreigners at all. These are followed by the area around the airport (with only one foreign nationality - the Netherlands), Estadi Balear with six foreign nationalities, Son Rulflan with 12, and Son Espanyol with 15. These figures are from the city census taken on January 1 2005, and are expected to be reflected by the electoral register of January 1 2006 (still being created) with “minimum variations in the parameters” according to Tomas Llado, head of Palma Council's Population Service. Germans, Argentinians and Ecuadorians are the predominant nationalities in a great many areas. There is a majority of Argentinians in Son Serra, Los Almendros, La Soledat and El Terreno. In S'Arenal, however, the Argentinians and the Senegalese share the majority presence equally. German citizens form the majority foreign population in Es Jonquet, Son Xigala, Son Vida, Establiments, Son Espanyol, Es Molinar, Les Marvelles, Es Pil.lari, S'Aranjassa and Casa Blanca. Ecuadorians are predominant in areas such as Camp de Serralta, Es Forti, Cas Capiscol, Camp Redos, Bons Aires, Plaza de Toros, Son Oliva, Amenecer, S'Indiotera, Arxiduc, Marques de Fontsanta, Son Cladera, Es Vivero, Rafal Nou, Rafal Vell, Son Forteza, Son Gotleu and Pere Garau. Among some of the most curious of the facts shown by the electoral roll are: the presence of five stateless people (one each in Es Forti, Son Ximelis, Sant Nicolau and two in Son Dameto); and the presence of 100 Bulgarian residents in Secar de la Real, making Bulgaria the country with most citizens in this area of Palma. The majority of the Chinese population is in Pere Garau (with 437 residents), followed by the Foners area with 214. Areas such as Sa Lonja (with a 26 percent foreign population, most of which are German and Argentinian), Es Jonquet (with 26.11 percent), Arxiduc (23.15 percent), Son Armadans (25.22 percent) and Bons Aires have an above average percentage of foreigners. In Son Armadans the majority of foreigners are Colombians (183 residents), followed by Argentinians (171) and trailed by the Chinese (56). In the Plaza de Patines, Bulgarians are in the majority. Lastly, in Genova British citizens form the majority of the foreign population.