More than 50,000 appointments and operations have been suspended in the Islands due to the doctors' strike

PalmAn expenditure of 7.2 million euros and 50,000 canceled appointments and surgeries. This is the impact that the doctors' strike against the Statute of Autonomy has had in the Balearic Islands. These are the figures that the Minister of Health, Manuela García, presented this Tuesday in Parliament.

The regional minister has blamed the Spanish government for the collapse of the healthcare system in the Balearic Islands and accused the Socialist Party members Teresa Suárez and Patricia Gómez of "demagoguery" for calling for her resignation. Suárez insisted that García should step down given the "chaos" in the public healthcare system: "Resign, it will be the best thing you can do for the citizens," Gómez told her.

García responded by criticizing the Spanish government for the strike. He also blamed the previous government for the current state of the healthcare system, stating that the Socialists "did absolutely nothing in eight years" regarding mental health. Gómez (former Minister of Health) countered that all the healthcare centers inaugurated by the current government "were from the previous legislature": "They haven't started any construction despite having plots of land and projects."

"Eliminating Catalan was not a whim."

For his part, the Socialist Àlex Pitaluga also demanded explanations from García for having eliminated the Catalan language requirement for healthcare professionals. As things stand explain the ARA BalearesSince then, 895 healthcare workers have obtained positions in the public system without demonstrating proficiency in Catalan. García pointed out that a total of 2,087 new professionals have joined the system since 2023, and defended the decision as intended to "resolve the shortage of professionals." In contrast, Pitaluga argued that, far from improving the situation, this decision "has created another problem," referring to the violation of citizens' linguistic rights.