Mallorca: €171m private healthcare funding questioned
In Palma on Mallorca, a health group is demanding answers about €171 million in Balearic private healthcare funding: it says the regional government has not shown who is meant to receive the money or exactly what it will pay for. The Association for the Defence of Public Healthcare in the Balearic Islands (Adspib) raised the issue on Tuesday, 27 October, over two entries on the government’s transparency portal.
Two budget entries, few details
One entry sets aside €78 million for healthcare services contracted from outside providers. The other lists €93 million for other healthcare services. Neither gives a detailed breakdown of its purpose or recipients, Adspib says.
Board member Quico Puigventós said €228.4 million in public funds had already been allocated to private healthcare in the Balearics for 2026. That is 9.3 per cent of the healthcare budget. A report by the group’s national federation ranks the Balearics level with Catalonia on healthcare privatisation, behind only the Madrid region.
More patients wait for public care
The group’s concern comes as public healthcare waiting lists grow. As of 1 October, more than 113,000 patients were waiting for hospital appointments or operations across the Balearics for the first time. Compared with a year earlier, 9,263 more people were waiting to see a specialist and 2,258 more were waiting for surgery.
Puigventós argues that sending work to private providers worsens public care; the group presents that as its view, not as a proven cause of the longer lists. It wants more investment in public healthcare and clearer information about contracts with private providers.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com