Mallorca coast chief ousted: Lafuente hearing blocked

Mallorca’s sea and water minister Juan Manuel Lafuente is set to avoid a parliamentary hearing in Palma on Thursday over the removal of coast chief Maria Joaquina Ferrer. PP and Vox say they will oppose the opposition’s request in the Balearic Parliament’s standing committee.

Ferrer, the former director general for coasts and shoreline, has been replaced by Joan Jaume. Her departure prompted a letter backing her from staff in the department.

PP parliamentary spokesman Sebastià Sagreras said the demand for Lafuente to appear was unusual. Senior director posts can be filled freely, he said, and Lafuente considered a municipal-focused profile suitable for the coasts role.

PSIB deputy spokesman Marc Pons linked Ferrer’s removal to an alleged failure to respond to Lafuente’s instructions. He said the dispute centred in particular on the licence for sunbeds and parasols on Formentera’s beaches.

Vox spokeswoman Manuela Cañadas called the request a smoke screen by PSIB and the left. Josep Castells of Més per Menorca took the opposite view, saying the episode suggested Lafuente did not control his ministry.

Topics: Sea & coast · Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com