Villa in Colonia Sant Jordi, Mallorca occupied by squatters

The villa belongs the noble Palmer family. | Pedro Aguiló Mora

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterColonia Sant Jordi27/03/2022 14:00
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The marquisate of Palmer was a noble title granted to a Mallorcan, Guillem Abrí-Descatlar i Serralta, by Archduke Charles of Austria, who was also the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles VI, from 1711 to 1740.

In Colonia Sant Jordi is a summer villa which belongs to the descendants of the penultimate holder of this title. It is on the Avenida Primavera, close to Es Trenc beach and hotels and restaurants. For the past few months, it has been occupied by squatters.

These are people who are known in the Ses Salines municipality for having previously squatted in other properties. They are not individuals who are in a "needy situation", and they have made the villa a place for "trade" and nuisance. Furniture of value from the property has been sold; other items have been set on fire. The Guardia Civil have gone there on more than one occasion. There is supply of water, while electricity is said to be supplied by "irregular" means. The owners, meanwhile, and by law, do not have access to their property.

The mayor of Ses Salines, Juan Rodríguez, stresses that the squatting has got nothing to do with people in need. It is "clearly illegal", he insists, and he is disgusted by the passivity of the "competent authorities for purely ideological reasons". "This situation harms the owners and the entire municipality. We want solutions now."