Palma’s Santa Catalina slammed as the new Magalluf
Residents up in arms over Saturday night street party
The street party in the centre of Palma. | Majorca Daily Bulletin reporter - X
Palma16/10/2023 16:52
On Saturday night a hundred people around a terrace in Carrer Fàbrica, on the corner of Carrer Comte de Barcelona, singing loudly and make a racket in the middle of the street.
Also in News
- Spain at boiling point over eggs!
- Now there's a proposal for a fifteen-year residency requirement to buy a home in the Balearics
- A Good Friday. Britain's biggest cruise ship heads for Palma for Easter
- Ryanair launches subscription that waives fees for reserved seats and insurance
- Super luxury British hotels set to open in Mallorca this summer
5 comments
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
It's a difficult balance. Santa Catolina has become THE late night "cool" city centre neighbourhood in Mallorca, attracting a fashionable - somewhat noisy (but not rowdy) - crowd to its trend-setting bars and restaurants. What Santa Catolina offers represents one of the appealing factors that has brought Palma so much positive press as the "mini Barcelona" in recent years. Palma is now well and truly on the weekend "city break" agenda, which is great news for the diversification of the island's tourism economy. That's not to say that one shouldn't sympathise with those residents who lived in Santa Catolina prior to the area morphing into a late night 'cool' hangout, but a balance has to be struck. And any comparison with Magaluf is absurd.
Charles Dalrymple-ChumleyI agree with that to some extent, but it is a popular restaurant and bar area in the inner city. I think one could expect late night noise in any such area in any city. Many people would actually be attracted to living in it. But many wouldn't. You can't please them all. MDB recently published an article about the overcrowding in Porreres. It was based on a complaint from one resident. I know Porreres rather well, and I can say with absolute confidence that the only time anything resembling "overcrowding" in Porreres is on market day. And even then, it's busy, but not quite "overcrowded" or unbearable. And only for 3 or 4 hours. But there's always someone who will complain. And besides, it makes good "fury and outrage" fodder, even if it's just a gross exaggeration. Santa Catalina is a very different animal than Porreres, but I detect a similar tone of exaggeration in this one. It's a popular restaurant and bar district (with some good eats and drinks) in a good sized city, in close proximity to other popular attractions. Maybe as you suggest, it could use a bit more adult oversight, but really, the options here are A) get rid of the bars, restaurants and shops, or B) live with it.
I find its amazing how effective it is to get people to move on when you throw a bucket of pi$$ over them from your terrace.
"In the end it is not going to be possible to live in Palma” said the Associació Barri Cìvic de Santa Catalina i es Jonquet. No. That's defeatist talk and is unacceptable. Fire the association's Head and re-group. Go to the police chief and demand extra measures, action and a greater police presence at the weekends. Don't accept the status quo and do shout from the rooftops that you're not having this anymore. Allowing these groups of drinkers to drive residents from the city centre is intolerable. Residents have rights and the association is doing a poor job in representing them.
This is what happens when you make gomila for the rich and famous