Pact between strips and Trojans and the perplexed Balearic society
PalmDo the citizens of the Balearic Islands deserve a political class that devotes a large part of the parliamentary debate to the increase in the eco-tax as if this were our greatest concern? If, as some say, they wanted to "be part of the solution" and respond to the true needs and concerns of citizens, they would be focused on solving the historical problems of the difficulty in accessing housing, the impossibility of young people's emancipation, addressing mobility issues, reducing waiting lists for the healthcare system, substantially improving outcomes for future citizens, reducing citizen insecurity, creating new infrastructure, and ensuring that the public administration is not perceived as a burden, but as a facilitating instrument at the service of citizens. These, among many others, should be the issues they should be addressing.
Everything else is smokescreens and staged to grab headlines in the press and on social media, highlighting, once again, the gap between political debate and the social reality on the street. Will the increase in the ITS be debated as a key issue, pushed by those who didn't dare to do so when they were in power and now consider it essential while in opposition? Do those who didn't foresee it in their political platform and have mutated their liberal ideology also see it?
We can debate it at the pact tables, as a space for dialogue created to address the roadmap for the Balearic transformation, but honestly, it is neither a priority nor a far-reaching measure. It will not improve citizens' concerns. It does not represent any step forward in the Balearic economic transition. It will not contribute to managing any tourist flow. Undoubtedly, it will be the many links in the value chain—restaurants, recreational and leisure activities, commerce, etc.—who will see their activity reduced by the decline in spending by tourists who stay in regulated accommodation, so that their euros can be used to swell the regional coffers, extracted from the productive economy.
What is evident regarding the ITS is that, in the end, the political class, instead of demonstrating its effectiveness in making visible the destination of the income from this tax, hinders itself in political fights to distract public attention from what a recent report by the Audit Office has revealed: the inability to manage it.
Since 2016, of the €698.7 million budget, only €59 million has been fully implemented. Furthermore, it was highlighted that €160 million lacks documentary verification and that many projects "are routine actions rather than transformative projects in accordance with the purposes of the tax." And, given this situation, as you can see, raising the eco-tax is a matter of urgency.
