The left, to Prohens: "People are suffering because of your failure"

PalmaThe left-wing parties have based their interventions in the general policy debate on a basic premise: "People are suffering because of your failure." Both MÉS per Mallorca and the PSIB have emphasized the fact that the most important problems in the Balearic Islands have worsened this legislative term, both the housing emergency and tourist saturation. A situation aggravated by the rising cost of living, largely due to the war conflicts in Iran and Ukraine and the increase in fuel prices.

The spokesperson for the PSIB, Iago Negueruela, kicked off the second session of the general policy debate. After the president, Marga Prohens, announced new tax cuts to facilitate young people's access to housing, the socialist considered these announcements insufficient and accused her of "wasting three and a half years of society's time." "You remove taxes for young people, but how much does a house cost? 400,000 euros," he criticized. "How much does a young person earn in these Islands? They cannot pay for a house, live in an apartment, or rent a room," he continued: "This is your balance sheet."

Negueruela recalled the PP's votes against the Spanish government's Maricarmen decrees in Congress. Also, Prohens' refusal to limit rental prices, a measure that could have been applied for three years under state law. "Rectify your votes, allow the contracts for the 60,000 households that expire this year in the Islands to be extended," he insisted: "It is easier to rent in Barcelona than in Palma." He also considered the Executive's housing management ineffective: "He promised 2,000 homes in the Safe Rental Program, but it is easier to live in a caravan than to find a safe rental."

Negueruela also reproached the president for not having finally raised the Sustainable Tourism Tax (ITS) or implemented a tax on rental cars, as she announced at the 2024 general policy debate. "With those announcements she won that debate, the media titled 'Prohens, the brave one'," he asserted: "They said she adopted the left's degrowth proposals as her own". "She won the headlines, but lost her credibility forever," he continued: "The phone rang and her masters told her what was this about raising the ITS".

"About houses that are not for living in"

For his part, the spokesperson for MÉS per Mallorca, Lluís Apesteguia, began his intervention with a question: "Do we have a future in this land?". "The balance that matters is whether the people here can continue living here and whether they can do so with dignity. And the answer, for more and more people, is no", he said. "Yesterday you said that it was the fault of the people who are suffering. That they don't dream enough. That they don't try hard enough. That they don't sacrifice enough. And no: they suffer because they don't have a Government beside them. They suffer because of your Government. Because of your failure, Mrs. Prohens", he added.

The sovereignist spokesperson remarked that a large part of the housing problem is not due to a lack of supply, as the Popular Party claims. "There is no shortage of houses here. There is an excess of houses here that are not for living in. They are second homes, tourist rentals, investments by funds that buy entire buildings and empty them out. The houses are there. What happens is that they are not for the people here", he criticized, and accused the Government of "looking the other way". "Mrs. Prohens, what has your Government done? Your recipe has always been the same: lower taxes for those who can already buy a home and build", he continued, despite the fact that in the Balearic Islands there are "100,000 empty homes".

Apesteguia also criticized that Prohens eliminated the possibility of building housing with the Sustainable Tourism Tax (ITS) and that now the recovery of this measure is one of the president's star announcements. "Yesterday you mocked everything and everyone. Your great proposal is to correct yourself", he stressed.

Furthermore, Apesteguia announced that MÉS per Mallorca has presented a proposal to guarantee the residential use of land and avoid speculation there. "How will you vote on it?", he asked Prohens and warned her that "the housing problem will overwhelm you" if she does not take urgent measures. Other demands of the eco-sovereignist party have been an island minimum wage that allows for covering the cost of living in the Balearic Islands and a specific VAT that compensates for insularity.

Regarding tourist overcrowding, the eco-sovereignist spokesperson insisted on the need to degrow. "Degrow in tourist spots, in a planned and progressive way, so that there is less pressure and more quality. Do you believe we should maintain the figure of 20 million tourists per year?", he asked, and criticized the PSOE for the airport expansions that Aena is carrying out in the Balearic Islands.

Castells: "He only mentions Menorca to recite the same old tune"

For his part, the spokesperson for Més per Menorca, Josep Castells, reproached Prohens for only mentioning Menorca "to recite the mantra of 'Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera'" during the hour-and-a-half speech she gave this Monday. He also focused on the housing crisis, and criticized that the most important announcement on the matter was tax deductions. "With all housing measures having failed, what are we doing? Tax deductions that help those who can already afford it with mere crumbs," he said. "Is there anyone today who cannot afford an apartment who, with these deductions, would decide to buy one? No, no one," he insisted: "It is necessary to intervene in the market and regulate housing prices."

Unides Podem deputy, Jesús María García, focused on the protests for housing, the protection of Es Trenc and against the expansion of Ibiza airport that have taken place across all the Islands this legislative term. "They are challenging you," he said, and regretted that Prohens "did not mention them once" in her speech. "Mass tourism exhausts both people and the territory," he continued, and said that the Government "shows signs of exhaustion": "The coming months will feel long for you."