The PP manages to process the capital city law after correcting the mayor of Palma

PalmThe PP has obtained the support of the majority of parliamentary groups to begin processing the Palma capital law in the Parliament. But it has also had to correct the proposal of the mayor of Palma, the popular Jaime Martínez. The opposition pointed out an additional provision that allowed the elimination of the minimum reserve of official protection or limited-price housing in new urban developments, which will finally disappear from the text. This is how the mayor himself has committed, who has defended the text in the plenary hall.

Martínez has accepted in statements to the media the correction of the text that yesterday announced the spokesperson for the parliamentary group of the PP, Sebastià Sagreras, insisting that a 50% of official protection and price-limited housing will be ensured in new developments. "That's what it's about, improving the text," Martínez said when asked about this issue. However, he pointed out that it will be the Government who will have the final say to decide "if it wants to give more tools to the City Council so that it is more agile and the housing crisis can be resolved".

During the parliamentary debate, Martínez defended the law as a "historic opportunity" for Palma, as it will allow for "speed and legal certainty" in the construction of protected housing. Of course, he reiterated, "guaranteeing the protected housing reserves that the law sets".

For his part, PP deputy Mauricio Rovira defended the object of the law. "Being the capital is not easy," he said: "The municipality wants to be endowed with powers, resources, and tools". "Its main functions are to determine sectors of shared interest, assess the costs of the capital city, regulate digitalization and citizen participation, divide the municipality into districts, and create the defender of citizens," he explained, and criticized MÉS per Mallorca and Més per Menorca, who voted against the law: "They come to take credit and criticize, but when you were in government, you didn't approve it".

However, MÉS per Mallorca deputy Ferran Rosa warned that he does not trust the change of criterion of the PP, which has now said that it will indeed guarantee the number of protected housing units. "They have come out to disavow their mayor's proposal," said the eco-sovereigntist: "We do not trust you, because your history supports you". He also criticized Martínez for not having explained how the thirty million annual euros plus for the city guaranteed by the law will be invested.

For their part, the PSIB spokesperson, Iago Negueruela, has justified his vote in favor of the bill's processing by insisting that they will present amendments. "The best thing for Palma is to improve people's lives," stated Negueruela, who will foreseeably be the socialists' candidate for the city elections: "We offer sincere dialogue to the mayor and the popular parliamentary group." The PSIB has facilitated the processing of the bill even though the PP did not need their votes. They have done so, according to sources from the parliamentary group, due to the increase in resources that Palma will receive, but also to avoid Vox's influence in the processing.

Vox has also given its support to the consideration, emphasizing that it is "fundamental" to update the capital law. However, deputy Sergio Rodríguez has criticized issues such as the increase in services to combat gender-based violence. "What Vox rejects is the semantics and the obsession with the gender issue," he justified.