Protesters and police start to arrive in Palma

Over the next few days 3'000 people are expected to arrive in Palma to take part in Saturday night's protests in Palma against central government's national water plan. Yesterday organisers of the “blue march” arrived in Majorca and held talks with Balearic President Francesc Antich before setting off on a tour of the island, explaining to the public what is wrong with Madrid's water plan and gathering support for Saturday's demo, expected to be the largest ever held in Majorca. The majority of the mainlanders coming for the “blue march” live in areas along the river Ebro which thousands of people are trying to protect from the perils of the new water legislation. The protest will coincide with the meeting in Palma of European Union Environment Ministers and form part of an “alternative summit” which is being organised by Movement for Democracy and Social Globalisation. Yesterday police reinforcements started to arrive in Palma ahead of the summit and the massive protest which will have an “anti-globalisation” element. rganisers yesterday moved to reassure the authorities that the demonstration and the weekend's “alternative” summit, which will include a host of events, activities and work shops, will be a peaceful one, as the previous two have been on the mainland.