Felix Pons (centre) in the office of the Balearic president. | Pilar Pellicer

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Sicília sense morts (Sicily without the Dead) is a novel by Guillem Frontera that was published in 2015. It has been said of Mallorca that the island is like Sicily but without the violence, and Frontera took this as the title of his book about corruption.

The novel has been adapted for television. A series is to air on the IB3 channel in the Balearics, and location work last week took actors and crew to the very heart of government on the islands - the Consolat de Mar government headquarters and the office of the president, Francina Armengol.

Felix Pons plays a fictional president. After the body of a rat is sent to him, a journalistic investigation seeks to unravel the ins and outs of the mechanisms of power.

Pons says of his character that it is "very interesting". "He struggles to try to get out of the culture of corruption, but little by little reality takes over and leads him to a dead end. At the same time, he is receiving threats and blackmail while trying to clarify what is happening. He is a very lonely person and doesn't trust anyone. His marriage is also in crisis and he doesn't know how to emotionally manage everything that happens to him. In addition, he is defined by his relationship with his father, a very powerful man whose shadow weighs heavily on him."

In the course of filming, fictional president got to meet real-life president. "It was a very funny meeting," the actor notes.