The Manacor City Council has approved a motion by majority to urge the Government to halt the project for an 80,000 chicken mega-farm in Son Brau. The decision, supported by all groups except Vox, comes after a massive local protest.
The full council of Manacor approved on Monday, with votes in favour from MÉS-Esquerra, PSOE, AIPC and PP, a motion to demand that the Balearic Government halt the project for an 80,000 laying hen mega-farm at the Son Brau estate. The only abstention was from Vox, whose representatives mocked the protest and asked if people preferred eggs in Tetra Pak.
Community mobilization and signature collection
The plenary session was preceded by a gathering in the Convent square, where dozens of residents expressed their opposition to the project promoted by the company Avícola Son Perot SA. The spokesperson for the No Macrogranja Son Brau platform, Sílvia Llull, stated that they have already collected nearly 4,000 signatures against the initiative. "Mallorca can’t take any more. We will continue until the end," warned Llull.
The platform claims that the mega-farm would have an unsustainable environmental impact on the area. Municipal technicians have already issued unfavourable reports questioning the project's viability from an environmental perspective. "The town speaks for itself," Llull asserted during the protest, which later moved inside the town hall.
The political debate and Vox's stance
The motion passed with the support of all groups except Vox. The spokesperson for the PP, Maria Antònia Sansó, justified her vote in favour by stating that "above all, the interests of the people of Manacor come first." For its part, Vox attacked the protesters, provoking whistles and boos from the audience. "Later, you will all want eggs, and how do we make them? In Tetra Pak?" the group quipped, arguing that such operations "provide jobs for local people."
The company Avícola Son Perot SA responded with a statement reminding that the project "is in processing and subject to the procedures and reports required by urban, environmental, health, and animal welfare regulations." The company emphasizes that its viability will depend "exclusively on compliance with legal requirements."
A precedent in the fight against mega-farms
Manacor thus joins other municipalities in Mallorca that have expressed their opposition to mega-farms, in a context of growing concern over territorial saturation and the environmental impacts of intensive livestock farming. The No Macrogranja Son Brau platform has announced that it will continue to mobilize and does not rule out resorting to legal action if the project proceeds. For now, the Balearic Government must respond to the town hall's request.
Residents in the affected area, at the Son Brau estate, fear that the mega-farm will generate bad odours, groundwater contamination, and increased truck traffic in a rural area. The platform has called for new actions in the coming weeks, while the City Council awaits a response from the Government.
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