From bargain to the most expensive purchase in the history of Pollensa

Council left counting the nine million cpst

Highly expensive project.

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporter11/04/2024 15:46

Ten years after the Pollensa Town Council unanimously agreed to buy the famous Capitol cinema for 850,000 euros, nothing remains of the nostalgia that made seven political parties (PP, PI, Alternativa, PSOE, PSM, Esquerra and UMP) put aside their differences to sign a joint purchase option in 2014. The cinema had been closed for many years,

What was apparently a real estate 'bargain' will probably be remembered as "the most expensive purchase in the history of Pollensa". That is at least what the current mayor Martí March (Spanish Socialist Party) thinks, who warns that the council cannot afford to delay the planned reform time-table and risk losing government subsidies.

"It is the most expensive purchase in the history of Pollença, in addition to the cinema, for which 850,000 euros were paid, the premises and a house on the ground floor were bought later. Between the costs we have already borne and what the work will cost now, the investment amounts to 9 million euros. That is an outrageous amount. We are talking about 9 million euros for a hall with 244 seats. We are looking at between 35,000 and 40,000 euros per seat", reflects the mayor.

March plans to start the refurbishment work next June with the aim of reopening the cinema in 2026. The works are scheduled to take 24 months to complete, but he is aware that when it comes to refurbishment work "there can be surprises". "If at the end of the year we haven't spent 600,000 euros of the money we have been granted from European funds and from the government, we will have to return the money with interest," he warns.

The plans to start the refurbishment of the cinema during the high tourist season has caused a real oucry. Sixty Pollença shopkeepers have just formed a pressure group against the project.