Court sacrifices seven plots reserved for equipment to build flats

PalmThe Palma City Council plenary session has approved, with the votes of the PP and Vox parties, the change of use of seven plots of land, planned for public facilities, to be used for the construction of affordable housing. The Councilor for Urban Planning, Housing, and Strategic Projects, Óscar Fidalgo, emphasized in the plenary session that the government team "is doing what it said it would do" with the first phase of the emergency plan to address housing issues, and stressed that these changes of use imply the continuation of the second phase.

Specifically, he explained that the rezoning of these lands will make affordable housing available, along with the construction of amenities on several plots. "We are not giving away land to any developer," the councilor argued, adding that the plots will be leased to private companies to build homes for a period of 75 years.

In response to criticism from neighborhood associations, which at the start of the plenary session requested the items be removed from the agenda, Fidalgo assured that "there will be citizen participation" and that "the approval of the residents" will be taken into account.

The left-wing groups, who also demanded the removal of the landmarks, accused the government team of "benefiting developers." "They haven't listened to the residents; they govern for a few," criticized Unides Podem councilor Lucía Muñoz. Meanwhile, the spokespersons for the PSOE and MÁS in Palma, Xisco Ducrós and Neus Truyol, respectively, warned that the homes to be built on these plots will cost up to 1,600 euros per month, a "totally unaffordable" price for the public.

They have also publicly denounced that the rezoning will result in the loss of land intended for sports facilities, sociocultural facilities, and educational centers. "The residents of Palma will lose 30,000 square meters of public facilities," lamented Ducrós. For Truyol, the change in classification will mean that developers "will be able to build houses that residents cannot afford." "This goes against the needs of residents and only benefits a few who are doing business," he stated.

These statements, for the Councilor for Urban Planning, are "a fallacy." Fidalgo reiterated in statements to the media that "30,000 square meters are not being given away" and that these seven plots, spread throughout Palma, will be used for public facilities. The councilor emphasized that the 75-year lease to private companies will allow for the construction of nearly 1,000 homes, within the framework of the second phase of the shock plan promoted by the government team, which, in total, provides for nearly 1,500 homes.

Vox blames the left

For his part, Vox Palma spokesperson Fulgencio Coll blamed the left for the city's housing problem. "You are the ones to blame, the ones who have driven rents to madness, because you have allowed speculation and removed legal security," he criticized during the plenary session.

The councilor for this far-right party, Ignacio Estaban, defended the importance of providing land and asked the left "not to engage in demagoguery" by saying that Vox wants to build on rural land. "We do not intend to build on rural land; what we want is for there to be land and for the urban areas to be exhausted first," he noted.