Palma - a symbol of the Balearics.

Palma - a symbol of the Balearics. | ARCHIVO

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma28/09/2015 00:00
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The annual survey by the Majorca-based research organisation, Fundació Gadeso, into feelings of identity among the people of the Balearics has revealed results similar to previous surveys. 51% of people from all the islands feel as Spanish as they do a citizen of the Balearics - a sentiment fractionally greater in Majorca than the other islands - while there are 23% who feel more Balearic than Spanish and 12% who feel more Spanish than Balearic. Only 5% feel only Spanish, while 9% say they are only Balearic.

When asked about identity with the Balearics as opposed to their own individual islands or the “Catalan Lands,” 63% of Majorcans identify with the island, 35% with the Balearics and a mere 2% with the Catalan Lands. In Ibiza the sentiment  is roughly the same, but in Minorca and Formentera island identity is greater - 79% and 76% respectively.

Something that is new about this latest survey, however, is that those surveyed were asked to do so according to how they voted at the regional election, and that election did of course introduce more variables than previously - Podemos and Cuidadanos (C’s), most obviously.

Revealingly perhaps, the highest level of sentiment as both Spanish and a Balearic citizen was among Podemos voters: 71%. Partido Popular voters were the ones to feel more Spanish than Balearic (28%), while among the parties with specific positions on nationalism/regionalism, the sentiments varied greatly.