The Government opens up to limiting the purchase of housing to non-residents if Brussels endorses it

PalmaThe Government will "evaluate" the affordable housing bill proposal that the European Commission has made this week. The first vice president, Antoni Costa, has assured that they will even consider limiting the purchase of homes by non-residents -a demand from MÉS per Mallorca- if Brussels supports it. "Prohibiting the purchase by non-residents is not a feasible measure today, and that is why the European Commission is opening the door to legislation that gives this option to public administrations," he explained: "We are willing to analyze it if the door is opened".

The housing law that will subsequently be processed in the European Parliament proposes measures so that territories and States can limit the rental of tourist apartments and the purchase of second homes to address rising costs and the lack of supply. The President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, assured that the housing crisis is already limiting labor and educational mobility and, therefore, European competitiveness, and is worsening in cities "and popular tourist destinations".

In a press conference following the Governing Council, Costa remarked that "the commission itself rejects the setting of maximum price caps" that the Spanish government promoted through the housing law, and that the PP refuses to apply in the Islands. "We believe it is counterproductive and affects the most vulnerable families," he justified. "We will apply any measure that allows us an improvement, which we believe can be effective," he assured.

Appeals the transfer of migrant minors

On the other hand, the first vice president has announced a new appeal against two resolutions from the Canary Islands and Melilla that establish the transfer of several unaccompanied migrant minors to the Balearic Islands. The Community's Advocacy has argued that neither of the two resolutions responds to the best interest of the minors nor are they duly motivated, because their repatriation through family reunification has not been proposed beforehand. It considers that the transfer of minors cannot be done "in a generic or automatic way, but must respond to the personal circumstances of each one".

In this sense, Costa has lashed out at the government of Spain for its management of the migration crisis in Ceuta. "It was warned 72 hours in advance, and 80,000 people entered Ceuta without it doing absolutely anything," he said: "Pedro Sánchez's government is incapable of controlling the borders". Asked about the fact that the Balearic Islands only appear in a testimonial way in the declassified documents about Ceuta after the Executive insinuated that Sánchez was hiding a police report about a supposed high risk of arrivals to the archipelago, Costa has doubted the word of the Minister of the Interior. "It is the word of Mr. Fernando Grande-Marlaska," he explained: "We cannot trust a minister who is not capable of doing absolutely anything to control the migratory flows to the Islands". Thus, he considered the "fear" of the Balearic Government "justified" after Sánchez hinted during his appearance in Congress that he had received information that affected the Peninsula and the Balearics. "We do not know where this report is, we are in the hands of an incompetent government," he asserted.