Mallorca: Balearics reject Madrid funding plan

The Balearic Government has voted against Madrid’s new regional funding plan. First Vice-President and Economy Minister Antoni Costa defended the decision in Palma on 15 September. He said the proposal includes none of the points the Govern had demanded.

Costa said the plan fails to account for the islands’ floating population, population growth and island status. He also said its principle of ordinality is reserved for Catalonia, and criticised what he described as a move to cut tax autonomy.

The minister pointed to objections filed by the Finance Ministry during the previous term, when the PSIB was in government. Those submissions had called for funding criteria covering the same issues, he said, adding that every Balearic administration had defended them.

Costa accused the PSIB of putting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez ahead of the Balearic Islands. He said the current Govern would defend the interests of people in the islands.

PSIB deputy spokesman Marc Pons said improvements to Balearic funding had historically come under PSOE and PSIB governments, despite opposition from the PP. He noted that the Canary Islands had backed the plan.

Pons said the PP would have another chance to approve the funding model in the Congress of Deputies and negotiate improvements. The PSIB will begin talks with social partners and other organisations to gather proposals to improve it.

Topics: Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com