Plaça Major in Palma: The Sad Heart of a Misunderstood City Center

The Plaça Major — central and yet neglected

In the heart of Palma, only a few steps from the cathedral, lies a square that is encountered daily by hundreds and pleases hardly anyone. In the early morning, around 9:30, I regularly see a woman with a full shopping cart pushing the stairs down to the parking garage — the escalators are cordoned off, dirty, and silent. It is a scene you would not expect here: downtown, a lot of concrete, and yet no plan.

What lies beneath the surface

Under the Plaça Major stretch shopping arcades that used to live. Today, closed shutters hang on the shopfronts, occasionally a sign To rent or Closed remains. The passages smell of old dust and unheated air; in a corner someone has stacked a pile of cardboard boxes. The parking garage above is no jewel — functional, but unattractive, with graffiti on the walls and sparse lighting.

What is particularly frustrating: lack of maintenance. Instead of repairing broken escalators, the city secures, blocks off, and apparently hopes for the big project sometime in the distant future. In conversations with shop owners I often hear the same sentence: They just pushed us aside, with no plan.

Policy change helps little

Over the years there have been many changes in the city government. Sometimes grand renovation promises were announced, sometimes empty announcements. Result: the area remains underused, traders seek their fortunes elsewhere, and a chance for the cityscape is lost. Even if new designs exist — from suggestions to visualized ideas — the question remains: when will it really start?

It's not just an architectural problem. Plaça Major is a social place: street vendors, older regulars from the cafe around the corner, market visitors on Saturdays — all of this loses life when infrastructure decays. An urban shopping passage that stands empty feels like a signal: no one really cares here.

Pragmatic thoughts instead of grand speeches

I'm not a planning expert, but a few simple steps would help: reliable maintenance of the equipment (escalators, lighting), interim use of empty shop spaces (pop-ups, local artists), better wayfinding between the square and Rambla. Small measures, visible impact — that would make the wait for a big renovation more tolerable.

Sometimes it suffices to work on details: a functioning elevator for older people, clean stairs, sensible signage. If even that is missing, the impression grows that planning and administration are not in sync.

A place with potential — if you want it

Plaça Major can be more. It could again become a meeting point, a place to shop, chat, and linger. The architecture is not lost, and the location is perfect. But it takes courage for small decisions and consistent maintenance in between.

In the end I hope for someone who does less talking and more hands-on. Until then Plaça Major remains a quiet testament to missed opportunities — and to the patience of those who travel here daily.

A local observer from Palma