Internal rebellion in the Council of Menorca

PalmInternal resistance to the new right-wing policies is growing in the Menorca Island Council. Virtually since the beginning of its term, the PP's governing actions have been questioned—with good reason—by the institution's own staff, leading Adolfo Vilafranca's team to seek the necessary support outside the council, support it is not receiving internally.

The latest initiative in this regard has just been approved. The Councilor for Territorial Planning, Núria Torrent, has promoted the signing of an agreement with the Mallorca Island Council so that a senior architect from that institution can advise and issue reports for a minimum of nine months on relevant urban planning issues in Menorca. Everyone has interpreted this, and the government has not denied it, as an attempt to find a friendly expert outside the council who can endorse the proposed modifications to the Island Territorial Plan (PTI) that the Menorca council staff rejected this past summer.

The administrative scheme the PP (People's Party) had devised to reduce land protection and allow for the expansion of the road, the size of the beaches, and the construction of facilities, housing, accommodations, and restaurants on Menorca's rural land fell apart. From the Corporation's secretary to the architect in the Department of Territorial Planning, all internal and mandatory reports were unequivocal and opposed. "Menorca's territorial model is being altered," they warned upon seeing that 95 of the document's 140 provisions were being modified. They demanded a "thorough" review of this "de-protection of the territory" because "it does not conform to the current regulations or legal framework." The PP government had no choice but to restart its review process and, once again employing external advisors, draft a new proposal that, this time, would receive the necessary technical approval to come into effect.

Architects of Mallorca

The argument used by Torrent to push through the agreement with the Consell de Mallorca is that he has a high number of architects on leave in his department and, therefore, lacks sufficient technicians to manage day-to-day operations. However, events have proven this more wrong than expected. The recent return of one of the two architects who had been on temporary leave, even before the agreement was ratified in the plenary session, has revealed the true intentions of the island government.

"What they want is for technicians from Mallorca to sign the proposals that the technicians from the Menorca Council refuse to sign," stated Councilor Eduard Robsy (PSOE) a few days ago in plenary session. He even warned that any technician from the Mallorca Council who agrees to participate in this arrangement "is taking a big risk, because we suspect they will sign highly contentious reports, and the liability will not be covered by insurance or legal defense for either council." Núria Torrent, however, contradicted him and asserted that she "will act as a Menorca civil servant, with all the corresponding legal protections."

"The solution is right here at home," points out Councilor Esteve Barceló (Más per Menorca), who, like Robsy, recalls that the recently reinstated architect is the same one who signed one of the most damning reports against the failed revision of the Territorial Plan this summer. But the PP government, with the ever-decisive support of independent councilor Maite de Medrano, expelled from Vox, has pushed through the agreement. Not even the report from the auditor of the Consell de Mallorca, warning that the Mallorcan institution also lacks sufficient technicians and must hire them from the company Tragsatec, has stopped the agreement. "What they want," Barceló concludes, "is to Mallorcanize Menorca."

Roads reports on Heritage

Seeking external experts to validate its policies has been a constant practice at the Island Council during this term. This has been evident with the heritage assessments that, from the outset, were commissioned from outside the institution to endorse the Popular Party government's decision to build the main road viaduct. UNESCO recommends this viaduct because it will not affect the prehistoric navetas of Rafal Rubí, an archaeological site included in the Talayotic Menorca, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. To further support this claim, even the mandatory internal reports, which by law must consider heritage and landscape parameters, have been prepared by the Roads Department of the Mobility division, which, naturally, always prioritizes road safety over other equally fundamental aspects. This way of operating has been questioned by various entities and professional groups, and by UNESCO itself, which has warned that the current proposal will negatively impact the landscape context of the navetas and affect the integrity and authenticity of the landscape declared to be of Outstanding Universal Value. Not even the solutions at the international level that the organization is requesting as alternatives have been considered, so far, by the island government, which has seen its decision challenged by a hundred international experts and even see the specialists who are part of the Menorca Talayotic Scientific Advisory Council resign in disagreement. This is the case of the coordinator of the dossier, the recently deceased Cipriano Marín, and of the director of the Menorca Talayotic Agency, Antoni Ferrer, who resigned this past summer and whose position has not yet been filled.

The agency, explained Minister Joan Pons Torres, is functioning "completely normally," despite being provisionally run by technicians from his department. "The agency is dismantled and has a minimal structure," counters Esteve Barceló, who warns that this situation "directly affects the commitments made to UNESCO. We demand transparency and accountability, not favoritism."

Without the support of linguists

The Department of Culture, Education, Youth, and Sports, headed by Pons Torres, has gone the furthest in this regard. It has completely overhauled the Island Council's language usage regulations to include Spanish and prioritize Menorcan in in-person services and the publication of notices, communications, and regulations. It has done so without the support of the Language Advisory Service (SAL) or its main academic body, the Menorcan Institute of Studies (IME), to ensure that the Council speaks "as the people speak." And, to ensure that no one contradicts him, he has eliminated the monitoring committee that previously decided how to apply the regulations to the institution and has become the sole supervisor of the new rules himself. He even reserves the option of outsourcing language advice. This imposition has not gone unnoticed; quite the contrary, as institutions ranging from the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) to the president of the IME Scientific Council, Josep Maria Quintana, have sent letters to the institution expressing their disagreement with the measure, which has also received numerous objections.

The latest internal conflict between politicians and employees of the Consell (Island Council) has not yet been extinguished, even in the Sports Department, where the island director, Rafel Quintana, and one of the employees have filed complaints of workplace harassment, prompting the intervention of the Labor and Social Security Inspectorate. Although both complaints have been dismissed, the Consell has hired a sports advisor, who shares a consultancy with the wife of a PP (People's Party) councilor, to try to restore peace and resolve the "poor work environment" and "unfriendly work atmosphere" that the head of General Services acknowledges exists in the department, "which causes communication difficulties and a decrease in motivation." The first ten sessions contracted have not been effective enough to resolve the dispute, forcing the Council to contract another fifteen. Each session costs the people of Menorca 250 euros.

"It is a common and advisable practice in these cases," justifies Councilor Joan Pons Torres. "If it can contribute positively, what harm does hiring a career advisor do? Is it a problem or part of the solution?" the question is posed. "The problem," replies Socialist Edu Robsy, "is that people don't usually file complaints when they have any difference of opinion. What happens is that their management style doesn't mesh with the opinions of the in-house experts." There are plenty of examples, and there's still a year and a half left in the term.