Mallorca cost-of-living row: Costa calls MÉS irrelevant

Mallorca’s rising living costs fuel a row in the Balearic Parliament in Palma, Mallorca, on Tuesday, 6 October: Balearic economy, finance and innovation minister Antoni Costa calls MÉS per Mallorca “insignificant” in Spain’s Congress. MÉS representative Maria Ramon has asked what help the government could have introduced for people struggling to make ends meet. Costa answers by accusing her party of bowing to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

Costa says MÉS has ignored the Balearic government’s calls for urgent tax cuts for families, young people and people on middle and lower incomes. He argues those cuts could ease pressure on household budgets as inflation linked to the war in the Middle East takes hold. MÉS has one MP in Congress as part of Sumar; Costa predicts the party will still have little influence after the next general election.

Ramon counters that the government’s only response to rising living costs this term has been to abolish inheritance and gift tax — a move she says benefits the richest. She argues that, under its approach, Mallorcans would have to inherit money to afford to live independently and make ends meet. Ramon wants the government to press for a minimum wage and a value-added tax rate specific to the Balearic Islands.

Topics: Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com