From the 1920s until the Spanish Civil War, Mussolini’s Italy pursued a project of ideological and cultural colonization of the Balearic Islands, aiming to assert imperial control over the Mediterranean. Italian military support, provided from the airbase at Pollença, was pivotal in the Nationalist army’s Levante offensive, which included bombings of Barcelona and Valencia. Palma’s Via Roma is named in gratitude for this support. This imperialist project ended with Mussolini’s fall, yet colonization processes continued with the growth of tourism. Sergio Monje’s artistic research delves into this historical moment, examining the connection between imperialist colonization strategies and the establishment of the tourism model.

The project, winner of the competition, was presented on October 20, 2023, at Casa Planas during the Festa de la Fotografia.