War game island

THE geopolitical stand-off between the US and Russia might seem a world away from the peaceful serenity of Mallorca but, with Spain a member of the Nato alliance, war games are never far. 

In fact they are quite close to home. The Spanish army and air force have been conducting drills in Porto Pollensa under the guise of operation Eagle Eye for months. 

Designed to test the rigours of Balearic security, Eagle Eye has involved hundreds of soldiers, F-18 fighter jets, anti-aircraft missile systems, and even a warship. 

The decision has infuriated local political party Alternative for Pollensa, who are demanding that Mallorca follow Catalonia’s lead and forbid all such manoeuvres unless there is a genuine military necessity.

The radical party, which wants to uproot the ‘rotten and decaying’ ‘capitalist patriarchy’, wrote that Pollensa should be a place of ‘peace and tranquillity’, not a hotbed of military manoeuvres, and criticised the environmental impact of a heavy military presence.