'Habemus drama': politicians saturated with saturation
The Parliament lives the umpteenth historic day: Galmés manages to get the law to limit cars in Mallorca admitted for processing at the limit of the legislature
PalmaTourist saturation is one of the star topics of the legislature, especially when four years will have passed without structural measures having been applied to mitigate its effects. “The transformation of the Balearic Islands' economic model is the first challenge facing this autonomous community.” These words are part of the speech that the President of the Government, Marga Prohens, gave at the General Policy Debate on October 1, 2024. It is lucky that it was the first challenge two years ago, because if it had been the third or fourth, the residents might have already had to exile ourselves to the 'emptied Spain' to be able to breathe. “While being clear that we are a hospitable land where tourists are welcome, we all agree that we can no longer continue to grow in volume, and that the transformation of our model is non-postponable.” I am sorry, but here we must contradict Prohens: time has shown that the transformation of the model is entirely postponable. Two years later and about to end the legislature, the facts remind us of that Julio Iglesias song that said “la vida sigue igual”.
Be that as it may, politicians are saturated with saturation, because they have been going around in circles for almost 39 months of the legislature. Exhausting. We can take as an example the last plenary session, which was held on a Wednesday instead of the usual Tuesday because our beloved representatives of the citizenry had a holiday in Menorca. In the minutes of the last plenary session, we find about eighty references to saturation, overcrowding, containment, and limits. There is not a single political party that did not speak about it, although nuances must be taken into account: overcrowding and saturation are terms almost exclusive to the opposition, while the PP prefers to speak of limits and containment. It is important not to dramatize. On the other hand, the extreme right only refers to it to attack the other parties.
Another historic dayHowever, the Chamber was fortunate enough to experience a historic day on Wednesday with the admission for processing of the bill to limit the entry of vehicles into Mallorca. One more. Because we have plenty of that. In fact, the first historic day of the legislative term arrived two months after the elections, on July 23, 2023, when the Government approved the decree-law that subsidized the inheritance and gift tax. According to the PP spokesperson, Sebastià Sagreras, it was "the most important agreement that a Government Council has reached this century." Joy. A pity that it is of no use to people who have nothing to inherit or receive during their relatives' lifetimes. There were also other historic days: the inscription of Menorca Talayotic on the Unesco World Heritage list (September 2023); the approval of the Administrative Simplification Decree (June 2024); the launch of the first satellite of the Balearic Islands (February 2025); the day that Formentera had its own senator (March 2026); and, as expected, August 12, the day of the eclipse, a day on which some members of the Government took photos dressed as emergency workers. We are facing a legislative term saturated with historic events.
The president of the Council of Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, was in charge of defending (with full solemnity) the bill. The PP is now eager to process it so that the limitation on the entry of vehicles to Mallorca can be applied next season. We say they are in a hurry now because they have spent more than three years without being in a hurry.
At the beginning of his speech, Galmés did not spare praise for his law, a legislative prodigy. “A brave measure. A decisive measure. A measure that no one had ever dared to promote in Mallorca before. A historic measure”. You read that right: ‘Historic’. The island president also spoke of “record time” to develop the limitation, which, according to another PP mantra, is based “on data and not on perceptions”.
“We are at a crucial moment, with some unrest on the streets, and Mallorca cannot wait any longer”. Now we know that tens of thousands of people protesting against touristification equate to “some unrest”. But well, everything is relative. The important thing is that “now we have the opportunity to make history”. Indeed, we are going to make history again, as the final stretch of the legislature is lean on historic events.
The warning from the far right“Mr. Costa, honor without a budget is worth more than a budget without honor.” This is the warning that the deputy spokesperson, Sergio Rodríguez, launched to the Vice President of the Government, Antoni Costa, during Wednesday's plenary session. The far-right is jealous that the PP can reach agreements with the PSOE. It is understandable: it is complicated to blackmail someone who has an exit route.
In any case, Vox has taken advantage of the week to talk about Ceuta, with the grandiloquent words that its representatives love so much. Treason is the buzzword in the ranks of Vox, which does not tire of repeating that the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, must go to prison. For being a traitor, of course. It could not be for anything else right now.
To finish, I want to make a special mention of the Vice President of the Council of Mallorca from Vox, Pedro Bestard, who referred on Thursday to the goat he ordered to be stuffed in Toledo. “I wanted to bring the goat here, but it didn't fit in the car,” he said at one point during the plenary session of the island institution. He seems calm, now that the scandal over the private use of the Environment Department's cars has died down. Someone is happy.
