On Sunday, 1 November 2026, Palma mayor Jaime Martínez led the traditional municipal commemoration of Todos los Santos at the Cementerio Municipal de Son Valentí . Accompanied by members of the city’s political groups, wreaths were laid at the Plaza de la Llibertat and the Plaza del Record . A musical performance brought the ceremony to a close. The arrangements were organised by the Empresa Funeraria Municipal in coordination with the Ayuntamiento de Palma.
To accommodate the increased number of visitors for the commemorative day, the municipal cemeteries extended their opening hours. The EMT also ran additional buses to the cemetery to make access easier. These measures had been announced in advance and complemented a programme of masses, floral tributes and musical performances. EMT is the municipal transport operator; Empresa Funeraria Municipal is responsible for running the municipal cemeteries and coordinates operations on site with the town hall. The expanded services aimed to shorten journey times and ease congestion at the main entrances.
Local media report that the ceremony also remembered the victims of a train accident reported in central Spain in the days before. The town hall thus linked local remembrance with a current national occasion of mourning. No specific attendance figures or full transcripts of speeches were available by the afternoon.
Criticism from the party MÉS per Palmacaused concern in the morning. It complained that the Columbario de la Dignidad — an area of the cemetery where the remains of victims of political repression lie — had been closed temporarily. According to the party, this had made it difficult for families to gain access on the commemorative day. The complaint was made public and picked up by several local media outlets. Initially, differing accounts emerged from the town hall; no definitive clarification had been provided by Sunday. The dispute concerns the respective responsibilities of Ayuntamiento de Palma and Empresa Funeraria Municipal: access rules and opening hours are set by the city, while operational implementation lies with the municipal funeral company.
For years, Palma’s commemorative event has followed a set format, with wreath-laying at the cemetery’s central memorial sites and musical performances. This year, reporting focused not only on collective remembrance but also on organisational issues such as opening hours and transport links — as well as the political dispute over access to the Columbario de la Dignidad. It centres on relatives’ expectations of easy access on the public holiday and on the management of the site.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).