Nazi graffiti on Picornell bust in Palma: memory desecrated

Attack on a memorial in El Molinar

Late Tuesday afternoon, residents in El Molinar, a quiet neighborhood along Palma's coast, discovered the bust of antifascist activist Aurora Picornell covered in graffiti. Black paint, several swastikas, and the number 88 — a code in far-right circles for the salute \"Heil Hitler\" — had been sprayed on the pedestal and the memorial plaque. On the chest of the statue, a target was also painted.

It is a brutal message to a woman who on the island stands as a symbol of resistance to dictatorship. The act shocked neighbors, pedestrians, and users of the Passeig, who normally drink their coffee here between cafés and boats.

Reaction from the city and associations

The city administration reacted quickly: employees of the municipal utilities removed the paint, according to witnesses on site, within 24 hours. The deputy mayor explained that they did not want public memorial sites to become targets of hate. A local remembrance initiative filed a complaint about a possible hate crime.

Several parties and associations condemned the vandalism. In conversations with residents, one repeatedly heard: \"That’s going too far\" or \"Something like this has no place here.\" Some planned to lay flowers in the evening, others planned a vigil in the coming days.

Who was Aurora Picornell?

Aurora Picornell, born in 1912 in Palma, was a seamstress, a trade unionist, and a vocal advocate for equality and social justice in the 1930s. During the Civil War, she was imprisoned and executed in 1937. Her name lives on on the island in street names, exhibitions, and, indeed, this bust — as a reminder of political engagement and of the victims of repression.

The bust was installed in 2019 on the initiative of the city council and the island council. For many here it is more than plastic and stone: a place where history and present meet.

What is important now

Such attacks raise questions: How widespread are far-right symbols on the island? How protected are monuments and how seriously do authorities take the incidents? The quick cleaning helps the cityscape, but it does not replace a debate about prevention and educational work.

I was there the morning after the incident in El Molinar — there was still a smell of solvent, the pedestal was damp. An older man who walks his dog daily merely shook his head: \"Those are loud signals. We must talk, not just clean.\"

The complaint is filed, police investigations continue. And the bust? It stands again, clean, but the memory of what happened remains.