Ibiza homes for residents, Prohens vows

Homes at Can Escandell in Eivissa, Ibiza, will be reserved for residents, Balearic Government president Marga Prohens said on Tuesday. She gave the assurance during a housing debate in Parliament in Palma, Mallorca. Prohens said the pledge ran counter to what Spain’s central government had announced.

Unidas Podemos MP José María García attacked the regional government’s housing record, calling it poor and accusing it of fuelling speculation. He said its policies had failed to halt rising prices, instead favouring more building and the release of land.

Prohens pointed to measures during the current term which, she said, had enabled the processing of 10,000 affordable homes. She also said more flats than chalets were receiving approvals and that purchases by Spanish buyers were rising against those by foreign buyers. “Much remains to be done,” she said, but the government would keep working so people could find a home at an affordable price.

MÉS per Mallorca spokesman Lluís Apesteguia again urged Prohens to back limits on property purchases by non-residents in certain cases, following a debate also taking place in the European Union. He said town halls should be able to reserve homes for people living locally for ten years where the cheapest home costs more than an ordinary family earns in that time. Companies, he added, should not be able to buy homes in such towns.

Prohens accused MÉS of pursuing an ideological agenda and asked whether it wanted to expropriate empty homes owned by Mallorcans. Apesteguia said his party would act in eight months if the government did not bring in measures to help residents gain access to housing. Prohens replied that they would then have to vote for the PP, again citing Can Escandell as homes set aside for residents.

Topics: Housing · Politics · Palma

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com