Son Armadams becoming the "Bronx of Palma"

It is now the turn of Son Armadams residents to make their own complaints. Lack of security, drug-taking, prostitution, cars driven at high speed in organised races, noise and fights. The president of the residents association, Catalina Llompart, describes the zone as being the "Bronx of Palma", a virtual no-go area to which the local police only go occasionally. When they do, they don't get out of their patrol cars.

Tomeu Berga, secretary of the Palma federation of residents, says that the problems occur every week from Thursday night until the early hours of Monday. He doesn't want to think about how things will be this summer, given the "total passivity of the local police and the National Police". He adds that whenever residents complain, all the police do is shrug.

It isn't the whole of Son Armadams which is affected but a specific area where it meets El Terreno. Streets such as Federico García Lorca and the Joan Miró avenue are the most troublesome. Certain bars and clubs are singled out - Infinity, Bufalo, La Parada - as well as the "alternative" bars, i.e. those with prostitutes.

The residents say that there is no response from the police and that they feel helpless. One person has been killed and there have been several serious injuries because of knife fights. Berga adds that the "degradation of El Terreno after years of town hall idleness has finally arrived in Son Armadams". People are said to be leaving as a result. They are fed up with the town hall failing to meet its obligations and with the local and National Police who pass the buck to each other.

Berga states that people are no longer prepared to put up with the situation and with the failure to take responsibility. He warns the town hall that the residents are going to "create many problems for them with our protests".