The Government rectifies and will maintain the maximum of six tourist places on agricultural estates

PalmaThe Government rectifies and will finally maintain the limit of six tourist places on agricultural estates. This was one of the most controversial points of the preliminary agrarian law draft, which the Executive approved this Friday and will begin its processing in Parliament. Although at first the Minister of Agriculture, Joan Simonet, opted to raise the limit to ten places, he has finally returned to the figure provided for in the previous law given the great disparity of opinions on the matter in the sector. "Some asked to go up and others to go down", he explained at a press conference.

"This is not a law that provides subsidies, but rather tools," insisted the minister, who has been working on this text since the beginning of the legislative term. As he explained, the approval of the preliminary draft had to be postponed due to the high number of allegations received from the sector. "Agriculture occupies 80% of the territory of the Islands, we must make this activity alive and profitable," he said in a press conference from Menorca, where the Government Council met. "We will not have green agriculture if farmers have red numbers in their current accounts," he stated.

The regulation must reach Parliament and, for now, does not have any guaranteed support, which is why the PP will have to convince Vox or the left. Among the novelties of the law is the introduction, for the first time, of an agrarian condition for certain new homes on rustic land, and the priority of agricultural activity in the use of water over other uses on rustic land when there is a scarcity of resources. It also promotes direct sales and short marketing circuits, so that farmers can keep a larger part of the value of food.

The regulation also provides for strengthening the agrarian function of rustic land and, therefore, establishes that it must be preserved and dedicated primarily to cultivation, livestock farming, and forestry uses. It also establishes that administrations have a duty to prioritize these uses over residential ones. Furthermore, it facilitates the incorporation of complementary activities that allow for generating more value and income for the farms, while maintaining agricultural activity as the primary one on the properties.

An agrarian counterpart to constructions on rustic land

The project also introduces an agricultural counterpart for certain new homes on rustic land. As Simonet explained, accompanied by the president, Marga Prohens, this does not mean that the law determines where one can build, but rather that, when there is the option to build a home on rustic land according to applicable territorial and urban planning regulations, it must be linked for at least 15 years to an agricultural condition. It will apply to new isolated single-family homes of more than 100 square meters built on plots of 14,000 or more square meters. This link may be accredited through the development or maintenance of agricultural activity on the property, investments aimed at putting the land into production or improving it, or by linking the property with professional farmers or priority agricultural holdings. Furthermore, the possibility is foreseen that the land may be made available to the public land bank so that it can be used by farmers and ranchers.

In the same vein, the law will also strengthen local products, establishing the obligation for administrations to promote their consumption. Municipalities will have to establish mechanisms so that they have a priority presence in markets and fairs. In addition, criteria are incorporated to favor their acquisition in public food procurement. The law also reinforces organic agriculture and livestock, native breeds, and local varieties. Furthermore, it incorporates tools in the forestry sector to facilitate the management of these territories, as it considers them to be for agricultural use, and favors associationism in the sector.

Prohens: "We are fulfilling one of the program's commitments"

President Marga Prohens has claimed the approval of the preliminary draft -which still has to pass through Parliament- as the fulfillment of "one of the commitments of the Government's program". "It is a key tool in the process of transformation and diversification of our economy", she assured, insisting that the law has been made "hand in hand with the sector". Regarding agro-stays, Prohens has defended that "under no circumstances" will they be able to imply a "consumption of territory": "They must be done, yes or yes, in a construction already existing on the farm, and on farms registered for more than four years". As she has defended, so that "they do not imply a growth in tourist places through the back door, they will have to count as a tourist place and be nourished by the existing pools of places, and to give a place of registration before there will have to be a place that has been deregistered".