Mallorca: PP demands migrant-risk reports in parliament

The PP will press Spain’s government for any reports warning of a high risk of migrant arrivals by small boat to the Balearic Islands when parliament meets in Palma, Mallorca, on Tuesday. The party wants to know what the reports say, when the government knew about them and whether action followed. It also says the islands were not given the information.

The demand has been added to a PP motion that also calls for support for Ceuta, rejects Morocco’s claims to sovereignty over Ceuta and Melilla, and urges a visit by King Felipe VI. For the Balearics, the party wants a dedicated plan for the islands’ sea border and extra European Union money for border surveillance.

PP spokesman Sebastià Sagreras said Spain’s prime minister had referred in Congress to intelligence and security-force reports on a high risk of arrivals by sea. The party expects the motion to pass, likely with Vox support.

The PP has also asked Alfonso Rodríguez, the Spanish government’s delegate in the Balearics, to appear before parliament. Sagreras said there had been no reply and he did not expect Rodríguez to attend.

Housing and hospital chief under pressure

The PSIB will ask regional president Marga Prohens whether she still believes the Balearics should not be classed as a pressured housing area. Spokesman Iago Negueruela linked the question to a European Commission proposal that includes limiting the purchase of second homes as a response to the housing crisis.

The Socialists have also tabled an amendment to Palma’s capital-city law proposing the same designation. Their deputy Amanda Fernández will question Health Minister Manuela García over her backing for Cristina Granados, the manager of Son Espases hospital, after García did not answer the issue last week.

Negueruela said Granados should resign and called on García to act.

Waste charges and night trains also on agenda

Parliament will also debate a PSIB proposal for the Sindicatura de Cuentas, the public audit body, to examine how waste firm Tirme’s charges are calculated. The party wants scrutiny of the payment and compensation system used to set the Consell de Mallorca’s urban-waste tariff, as well as Tirme’s financial balance and payments for waste sent from Eivissa.

Housing, Territory and Mobility Minister José Luis Mateo will face an urgent debate on housing policy requested by MÉS per Mallorca. He will also be asked for details of promised improvements to summer night-train services.

During the control session, ministers will answer questions on the dismissal of former Coasts and Shoreline director Maria Joaquina Ferrer Matas, beach sunbeds and umbrellas in Formentera, tourism policy, nurses’ demands and Son Espases.

Topics: Migration · Sea & coast · Health · Environment · Tourism · Politics · Palma

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com