Queue for a soup kitchen in Palma, Mallorca

Queue for the Zaqueo soup kitchen. | Pere Bota

Andrew EdePalma04/06/2023 08:54
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Demand for food bank assistance and for soup kitchens shot up as a result of the pandemic. But rather than decrease, it has kept on growing. Inflation is a reason. Catalina Cunill of Zaqueo, an association of volunteers who provide meals for those who need them in central Palma, says that there has been "a boom" since November.

Before Covid, they were dealing with around 80 people a day. The number now exceeds 250 on some days. They are very concerned that if the demand continues to increase, they will have to apply some form of filter system. "We cannot cover feeding so many people. It would be a very difficult decision, because we have always helped everyone and we have never done any screening. But if things continue like this, it will become unsustainable for us."

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21.5% of the population of the Balearic Islands is poor or at risk of poverty

Starting at noon, a queue forms in Plaça del Mercadal that goes around the corner. Near to a four-star hotel, dozens of people line up. Far from stereotypes, they include people who have work. "It's not just people who live on the street. We are receiving more and more people who were previously middle class and who are now having a very tough time financially. It's not just inflation. Everything's going up, especially rents and mortgages."

According to a report last month by the European Anti-Poverty Network, 21.5% of the Balearic population were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. The main challenges faced by people on the islands, the report pointed out, were access to housing, getting a job, paying rent and having a balanced diet.

These figures are borne out by the queues for the soup kitchens - in Plaça del Mercadal, every day in front of the Caputxins Church in Plaça Espanya, at the canteens of Mallorca Sense Fam (Mallorca Without Hunger), at Montesión Solidaria and at SOS Mamás. Cunill observes that "these are the figures on paper, but there are many personal dramas". "People are having a very bad time."