Freedom fever: Thousands call for Mallorcan independence

CRIES for Mallorcan independence rang out as thousands of people protested across the island in support of beleaguered Cataluña.

A spokesman for Mallorca’s own nationalists has now said that they will push for a referendum on the island “in 2040, 2030, or even as early as 2020.”

David Abril, of Mes per Mallorca, also called on Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to step down after the violent suppression of Cataluna’s vote.

“He has no more legitimacy,” said Abril, whose socialist and eco-minded party has long been beating the drums for Mallorcan, or Balearic, independence.

The dream isn’t too far-fetched. Mes are already part of the ruling coalition in the Balearic parliament. Together with the Mallorca Greens, they command around 14 per cent of the vote.

Mallorca is culturally Catalan and Abril, like many other ambitious politicians, believes anything can happen over the coming years.

Mes parliamentarians showed up in Palma wearing Tweety t-shirts in support of their Catalan comrades.

The Loony Tunes canary character bizarrely featured on a large cruise ship anchored near Barcelona carrying Guardia Civil reinforcements from Madrid. On the tshirts Tweety has a speech bubble saying ‘Si’ and is waving a Catalan flag.

An estimated 3,000 people gathered in Palma on Sunday night to voice support for Catalan referendum. They shouted slogans, including ‘liberty!’ and ‘independence!’ and sang the Balearic anthem.

They were countered by a small group of protestors waving the Spanish flag and voicing their support of the police.

Other pro-Catalan rallies took place in Manacor, Pollensa, Soller, Felanitx and Sineu, among other places.