“We should be very proud of this island”

INTERVIEW MARIA Antonia Munar, president of the Council of Majorca and leader of the political party Unió Mallorquina (UM), has been taking centre stage this past week in official events organised to celebrate “Majorca Day”, locally known as la Diada. After thanking all Majorcans for uniting behind their regional flag, a keynote speech she gave alluded to a central theme of the Island not being able to sustain further influxes of immigrants. You didn't make any reference in your speech to the fact that the occasion was your last as president of the Island Council. No, in politics, you never know where you are from one day to the next. Why should I bow out? When you have entered the world of politics, you have to “go for it” wholeheartedly. After coming “down to earth” and seeing just how many people voted for you, it's important to press for the issues that the party and the people of Majorca believe in - the land, quality of life, immigration matters, regional culture and identity. What has been the point of the high profile campaign surrounding the Majorcan flag? Firstly, we wanted people to know that Majorca has its own flag, one with more than 700 years of history which should be distinguished from the flag which represents the Balearics as a whole. Majorca needs to be recognised as a “kingdom” with its own language and government, and cultural identity. I also feel the flag has helped set the seal on Majorca Day, 12th September, as a key event in the Island's calendar. The Balearic government should without doubt make it a public holiday. You spoke about curtailing immigration in your key speech, an issue with which your party is highly involved. Are you at the back of it all worried that an immigrant population is unlikely to vote for a nationalist party like UM? Not at all. The immigrant population are groups charged with a desire to achieve. Such people with high intelligence will quickly recognise that UM represents their interests. The point I was making about limiting further immigrant influx is that whether newcomers are German, or African, or whoever, the Island has a limited square meterage and the point will come where we simply cannot take any more people. The Opposition were critical of you that you are saying on one hand that Majorca can't sustain more immigrants, and on the other you are laying strategy for growth and development as part of the Island's Territorial Plan. The Plan will work well if it's used properly. There's no point planning sensibly for a ten-year period and then all the resources set aside are used up in a matter of six months. The local town councils will have to make responsible decisions. Regardless of whether there are immigrants here or not, quality of life is buoyed up by having sound infrastructure and means of communication. Your relations with Matas (the Balearic president) have been good in this term of office but I imagine he's done at least one thing that doesn't meet with your approval. Yes and vice versa, but we've managed to remain loyal to one another based on a philosophy of tolerance. With Francesc Antich, the ex-president of the Balearics, there is no problem at all, in fact there has been little friction all round. Their policies on immigration reflect the same tensions as ours, but we notice that national president Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is changaing his tune on the subject. Clearly it's the Partido Popular (PP) as we are governing jointly with them on Majorca although the people of the Balearics gave them a clear majority in the region at the last elections. UM continues to be concerned about the concept of “absolute majority”. I feel that Majorcans should vote for parties representing their interests on the Island to be at the beck and call of nobody.