Mallorca tourism row deepens after Prohens talks
One thousand handwritten proposals on tourist overcrowding were handed to Marga Prohens on Wednesday in Palma, Mallorca, but the meeting has pushed the island’s political parties further apart. The Balearic Islands president met the environmental groups GOB and Terraferida after citizen protests this summer. Her Popular Party calls the talks positive; opposition parties say the Govern failed to listen.
PP deputy spokesperson Marga Durán said both sides recognised social discontent and the need for limits. She said the proposals will go through the General Directorate for Social Dialogue and Economic Transition to the Sustainability Pact, where they are to be discussed.
Opposition says no ground was gained
Socialist PSIB deputy Mercedes Garrido said there was not a single point of agreement. She accused Prohens of backing containment rather than a reduction in tourism, which she said still amounts to tourist growth through the places granted by the island councils.
MÉS per Mallorca spokesperson Lluís Apesteguia also called the meeting a failure. He said Prohens had not acted on calls to cap rents, strengthen environmental protection or cut tourism, adding that there is not enough water to supply residents at certain times of year.
Unidas Podemos deputy José María García said GOB and Terraferida’s demands should at least be considered. He warned that tourist overcrowding would worsen under the Govern’s policies.
Water and building plans add to the row
The argument spread to a request from property developers’ association Proinba to speed up urban development without prior authorisation on available water resources. Durán said the PP had not included the request in the capital-city law amendment, whose deadline has now passed, although other parties could have put forward such an amendment.
Garrido said the change would allow developers to keep accumulating land without building. She said there is not enough water for the growth planned by the PP.
Durán also said the Govern will examine measures announced by Spain’s government against inflation and consider what it can add within its powers. The PP says its national proposals could save each person up to 100 euros a month.
Topics: Housing · Tourism · Politics
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com