The PSIB accuses Prohens of "lying" when she speaks of "massive" arrivals in the Islands: "She wants to harden the discourse"

PalmaThe PSIB spokesperson in Parliament, Iago Negueruela, reproached President Marga Prohens this Friday for her clash with the Spanish government. After the conservative leader said that President Pedro Sánchez hid a report on the risk of migrant arrivals to the Islands, Negueruela accused her of "lying". "She talks about massive arrivals of migrants" by boat, he denounced: "She wants to harden her discourse".

The socialist spokesperson made these statements after the traditional meeting with the president that marks the beginning of the political term. The meeting took place after Prohens demanded that Sánchez provide explanations for having insinuated that there was a "high risk of situations that could compromise the security" of the Archipelago, and spoke of the fear of "massive" arrivals in the Islands.

The Spanish president gave an account this Thursday of the management of the migration crisis in Ceuta. One of the key issues was to clarify whether, as the Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, said, the Spanish government had received warnings of an increase in movements at the border shortly before the massive entry of 70,000 people into the autonomous city. Sánchez admitted to having received a "routine" report on the arrests registered at the border, which "did not foresee anything even remotely similar to what happened." On the other hand, he confirmed that there was indeed a report that warned of a "high risk" of arrivals, but it referred "exclusively" to those of the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, and not to the Ceuta border. These statements have set off alarms in the Balearic Government, which said it knew nothing about it.

Asked about this issue, Negueruela called for "a reflection." "Does the president have data on the arrival of small boats in July and August? Yes, because they are public," he asserted. "In this data, is there an increase compared to last year? No," he pointed out in statements collected by Europa Press. In the same vein, he pointed out that Sánchez "spoke of the Peninsula, but not of the Balearic Islands".

MÉS demands that the president pressure to unblock the airport co-management law

The spokesperson for MÉS per Mallorca in Parliament, Lluís Apesteguia, demanded this Friday that the President of the Government, Marga Prohens, join the rejection of the Spanish government's veto on the airport co-management law approved a few months ago by the Balearic Chamber. Apesteguia made this request after meeting with Prohens to kick off the new political term, in a meeting where airport management was one of the main issues on the table.

The Spanish government has opposed the processing of the initiative in Congress because it considers that it would entail a reduction in Aena's income, which would have to be compensated with funding from the Secretariat of State for Transport and Sustainable Mobility.

Apesteguia conveyed to Prohens the "tremendous indignation" of MÉS per Mallorca regarding a decision that, as he denounced, involves "boycotting self-government and undervaluing the Balearic Islands' own institutions." The party has demanded that the Spanish government and the Secretary of State for Tourism, Rosario Sánchez, "immediately" withdraw the veto so that the law can begin to be processed in Congress.

"What happened today is that the government wants to prevent the debate on the admission for processing of a law proposed by Parliament. It is outrageous from an institutional point of view and unprecedented from a political point of view," he stated. During the meeting, Apesteguia also raised to Prohens the need to prohibit non-residents from buying homes in the Balearic Islands, a measure he considers "basic and elementary" to address the housing problem.

"Let housing be dedicated to people living in it, so it cannot be bought by those who want to speculate with it," he argued. The spokesperson for MÉS per Mallorca also put on the table measures for tourism degrowth and greater development of the Statute of Autonomy, with the assumption of powers such as justice and migration.

Més per Menorca proposes that the ecotax be 11% of the tourist bill

Més per Menorca proposes reforming the sustainable tourism tax so that it comes to represent 11% of the bill paid by the visitor during their stay in the Balearic Islands. The party's spokesperson in Parliament, Josep Castells, calculates that this change would allow increasing the revenue from the current tourist tax to about 800 million euros annually.

Castells conveyed this proposal this Friday to the President of the Government, Marga Prohens, during the round of contacts she is holding with parliamentary groups at the start of the new political term. The goal, as he explained, is for the tax to stop having only a collection function and also have a "real deterrent" effect on the arrival of visitors.

The Menorcanist argues that the contribution of tourists should be adjusted to the expenditure they make during their vacations and that, therefore, the tax should not be linked only to a fixed amount per person per night. Castells considers that this model would allow substantially increasing the resources available to the Balearic Islands and ensure that tourism activity contributes to a greater extent to compensating for the effects of the pressure it exerts on the territory.

The PP accuses Sánchez of hiding from Prohens a high-risk alert regarding the arrival of migrants in the Balearic Islands

The PP spokesperson in Parliament, Sebastià Sagreras, accused Pedro Sánchez's government this Thursday of failing to inform the Prohens Executive about reports from the State security forces and bodies that warned of a "high risk" of maritime arrivals of irregular migrants, especially in the Balearic Islands.

Sagreras made these statements after meeting with Prohens as part of the round of contacts that the president is holding with parliamentary spokespersons at the beginning of the political term. The spokesperson described it as "of enormous gravity" that the Spanish government knew about this alert and, according to his version, did not pass it on to the Balearic Government. "Sánchez knew that there was a high-risk alert that especially affected our islands and the Government was not informed about it," stated Sagreras. The PP spokesperson maintained that it is information that "directly affects the safety of citizens" and accused the Spanish government of having "hidden" it from the Executive.

The PP has announced that it will support the initiatives presented to demand from the Spanish government a "specific plan for the Balearic Islands" regarding the arrival of boats with migrants, in addition to a reinforcement of the human and material resources of the State security forces and bodies.

Sagreras has also defended the demand for the permanent presence of Frontex at the maritime border of the Islands and has asked the rest of the parliamentary groups to join these requests. The popular spokesperson linked these demands to the situation experienced in Ceuta and argued that the issue of security should remain on the sidelines of partisan confrontation. "When we talk about the safety of citizens, about protecting our borders and preventing situations like the one experienced in Ceuta, there should be no acronyms, no ideologies, nor partisan calculations," he pointed out.

Vox extends a hand to the PP for potential budgets

After the meeting with Prohens, the Vox spokesperson in Parliament, Manuela Cañadas, has assured that she is willing to negotiate the budget with the Government. "As always, we will sit down to talk," she said, after learning that the Executive will present the spending ceiling. "We will see where the economic items go, to what extent we can express an opinion, where it should be cut or where it should be reinforced, but until we see the spending ceiling we cannot express an opinion," she concluded.