Mallorca: 71 await beds as Balearic specialist waits rise 50%
Mallorca’s Son Espases Hospital has 71 people waiting for admission on Tuesday. Across the Balearic Islands, waiting times for a first specialist appointment have risen by 50%. At the Balearic Parliament in Palma, regional health minister Manuela García blames a doctors’ strike for the increase, but opposition MPs dispute her explanation.
A row over the strike
García says the strike has led to more than 80,000 appointment cancellations in the Balearic Islands. Across Spain, she says, three million people have had appointments rescheduled. She holds Pedro Sánchez’s government responsible.
MÉS per Mallorca MP Lluís Apesteguia says people now wait 20 days longer to see a specialist than they did a year ago. Socialist MP Patrícia Gómez also rejects the strike as the explanation, saying most of the doctors’ demands fall within regional governments’ responsibilities. García points instead to waiting times she says improved in July 2026 compared with July 2023.
Patients wait for hospital beds
Gómez says the 71 people awaiting admission at Son Espases are doing so without an epidemic or doctors on strike at the hospital. García points to increased demand, thanks emergency staff for their work and says she regrets that some patients must wait longer than they should.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com