Balearic hospitals: 1,522 emergencies in a day

A single day brings around 1,522 emergency cases to public hospitals serving Mallorca and the rest of Spain’s Balearic Islands, the regional health minister says. Manuela García insists the service is not collapsing. But at a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday, 7 October, Socialist MP Irantzu Fernández said it was.

Why the minister rejects a collapse

García told the Balearic Parliament’s Health Committee that peaks in hospital demand are normal. Across the islands, 1.2 million people currently hold health cards. On a single day, public hospitals handle around 23,600 consultations and 223 operations alongside the emergency cases, she said.

More people qualify for healthcare and people are living longer, García argued. That also means more illness for the system to treat.

Surgery waits fuel the dispute

Fernández blamed uncovered staff holidays and increasingly short contracts. More than 17,000 patients are waiting for surgery, she said — 15 per cent more than a year ago — with an average wait of 114 days.

Marta Carrió of MÉS per Mallorca also pointed to worsening figures, apart from outpatient consultations. Isabel Maria Borrás of the People’s Party rejected the collapse claim, saying there is no single definition of the term and that it means more than long waits or heavy demand.

The argument extended to funding. García said Spain’s Ministry of Health allocated the Balearic regional government nearly €80 million between 2018 and 2023, but only €9.2 million in 2024. She said the regional government had covered the difference and raised its health budget by nine per cent. Fernández accused the People’s Party of slowing the growth of that budget.

Topics: Social affairs · Health · Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com