The plenary session of the Sant Josep de sa Talaia Town Council, held on Thursday, October 31, debated a motion presented by Councilman Josep Antoni Prats Serra, of ARA Eivissa, to investigate and regulate the display of symbols associated with extreme right-wing ideologies in cabs in the municipality . The proposal arose from PSOE, Unides Podem and ARA Eivissa after the news published by La Voz de Ibiza in September, which revealed the presence of historical emblems on public transport vehicles in several municipalities of the island, with the particularity that these symbols included the Burgundy cross and the double-headed eagle, which have been adopted by neo-Nazi and ultra-right groups in recent years, generating concern among sectors of the public. As reported by this media, some citizens had expressed concern about the display of these emblems in a tourist context such as Ibiza, where public image and respect for diversity are key to coexistence, in addition to not complying with the regulations of the sector. In the context of this situation, Prats presented the motion in the City Council of Sant Josep, requesting that the consistory take active measures to prohibit the display of such symbols on cabs in the municipality.
To be investigated
During the session, Prats argued that the cabs “carry unauthorized symbology” and stressed that these emblems “self-identify as exalting certain political ideals” that can be interpreted as “identifiers of intolerant ideologies.” Prats pointed out that the City Council has the duty to enforce the regulations since “we have cabs that display unauthorized symbology, given that the City Council has not authorized carrying these symbols; there is no municipal agreement that allows carrying these symbols, which are also identified as exalting certain political ideals and are flagged for possible hate crimes.” “So we have to take into account that this is not authorized, and we also have laws that indicate that the services and public administrations must take measures to remove shields, badges, plaques and other objects or commemorative mentions of personal or collective exaltation of the military uprising, the civil war and the repression of the dictatorship,” he added. With the legal argument on the table, Prats defended his motion: “This is literally what the law says. It is not something I say.
Evidently, the motion does not seek to limit itself to a specific symbol; it is not a question of discussing whether certain symbols are liked or disliked, or whether I like to put one or the other. It is not about that, but that we believe that the regulations must be complied with in all their terms”. Finally, he insisted that the proposed resolution strictly establishes the following: that the City Council, within the framework of its powers, investigate the display of unauthorized symbols in cabs within our municipality, especially those that may be perceived by citizens as an identifier of intolerant ideologies. In cases where they are detected, the corresponding files will be opened to apply corrective and punitive measures”.
Response from the government team: legal limitations
The alderman Vicent Torres, of the Popular Party, explained during the plenary session of the City Council of Sant Josep that the consistory has no powers to initiate investigations into symbology on cabs without a formal complaint. “The City Council has no powers of investigation,” said Torres, detailing that municipal action is only activated when there is a specific complaint by the local police or an individual, and that in such cases, “will act on that complaint, but investigate for the sake of investigating, we do not investigate.” The alderman emphasized that this work should fall to “the Civil Guard or the National Police or state bodies”.
Torres argued against the motion, noting that the proposal is ambiguous and does not clearly specify what should be considered intolerant. “We want to prohibit symbology that could be perceived by the citizenry as identifying intolerant ideologies, without specifying what should be considered intolerant, which is, in a way, very intolerant,” he stated. He added that banning symbols based on subjective perceptions could generate confusion and lead to an unfair application of the regulations. In addition, the alderman questioned the structure of the motion, indicating that it is “a motion that I believe is divided into two parts, or that they want to emphasize two issues.” He explained that the motion has “a very political part and another of state service”, which in his opinion does not correspond to a municipal regulation.
And he defended that the cross of Burgundy, the symbol in question, is “a historical flag, a historical symbol that I believe should be maintained and guarantee its political independence.”
Likewise, Torres justified the vote against by pointing out that the City Council already has an ordinance that allows action to be taken if a complaint is filed and that it is not necessary to apply a new regulation. “We already have the ordinance that provides for it,” he pointed out, insisting that the City Council and the local police can only intervene upon a formal complaint, following the established procedure in these cases.
Disagreement on municipal competences
Prats, who was visibly disappointed with the position of the PP, responded that the City Council already has its own security body that investigates in other areas, such as in cases of illegal dumping, and argued that, in this case, the police could act similarly. Torres, however, defended the government team’s position and reiterated that, without a formal complaint, the City Council cannot initiate investigations into symbolism on cabs: “We are governed by an ordinance that specifies what can and cannot be displayed on a cab, and it is our duty to enforce the rules within that framework, but we are not empowered to initiate investigations without a formal basis.” In the end, Prats’ motion failed due to a lack of consensus among the political groups and the vote ended with 12 in the negative and 9 in the positive.
