Mallorca pensions row: minister accuses PP of freeze

In Palma, Mallorca, Spain’s social security minister Elma Saiz accuses the People’s Party (PP) of freezing pensions and pushing them towards privatisation. Speaking at a pension meeting on Monday, 9 November, she says the Socialists instead raise them. The meeting is organised by the Balearic Socialist Party (PSIB), with representatives of the CCOO and UGT unions present.

Saiz says the pension system is sustainable and points to a reform agreed with employers and unions in 2021. She also accuses PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who is in Palma for a pre-election event that day, of hiding his plans for pensions.

Pension reserves under scrutiny

Saiz claims the PP used up 60,000 million euros from the pension reserve. She says it held 5,000 million euros when her government took office and will reach 20,000 million euros by the end of the year. Those figures are the minister’s claims.

CCOO leader José Luis García wants Wednesday’s general strike to force parties to set out their plans for pensions and wages. He says strong economic figures are not reaching workers.

Housing joins the dispute

Saiz also accuses the PP and Vox of failing to offer housing solutions. UGT leader Pedro Homar criticises the failure to apply Spain’s national housing law in the Balearic Islands and urges people to join the strike.

Francina Armengol, president of Spain’s Congress of Deputies and a leading Balearic Socialist, casts the 29 November vote as a choice over the country’s direction. She says it will also set the stage for municipal and regional elections in 2027.

Topics: Housing · Politics · Palma

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com