Mallorca rejects plan to cut tourist beds and ease strain

Mallorca's island council has voted down a PSIB plan to cut tourist accommodation places and restore a moratorium. The decision came in Palma on Thursday, 10 September. The Consell de Mallorca also rejected the party's proposals to prepare for extreme heat in its buildings and expand home-care support.

The socialist group had called for an island plan within six months to revise the intervention plan for tourist areas. It wanted the ceiling on tourist places lowered and the moratorium brought back.

PSIB also proposed directing more of the Sustainable Tourism Tax, known as ITS, towards public housing, land protection, the water cycle and climate adaptation.

PSIB cites water shortages and housing pressure

Socialist councillor Juana M. Adrover said crowded natural spaces and water shortages had affected people on Mallorca this summer. She said tourism pressure was also feeding into a housing market where prices remain at record levels.

Adrover pointed to this summer's protests against mass tourism and said thousands of homes across the island were being marketed as holiday lets. “People in Mallorca must be able to live, not merely survive,” she said.

She also accused Tourism Councillor Guillem Ginard of asking for sustainability while governing in the opposite direction.

Heat measures and home care also rejected

PSIB said Consell facilities, including residential homes, day centres and cultural, sports and administrative buildings, had endured spells of intense heat this summer. The party criticised inadequate cooling, ageing equipment and a lack of planning.

It had sought a wider thermal adaptation and comfort plan, including heat audits, better insulation, replacement equipment and renewable self-consumption. Gabriel Alomar said the island government did not want such a plan for all Consell buildings.

The council also rejected a PSIB proposal to improve and extend comprehensive home care, which helps dependent people remain in their homes with support. The socialists said only four users had joined the service in two years, while 1,300 people were waiting for a residential place and nearly 2,000 for home help.

PSIB spokesperson Sofía Alonso said the aim was to bring the waiting list down to zero.

Topics: Housing · Social affairs · Tourism · Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com