Apesteguia charges against Prohens: "People suffer because of her failure"

PalmaMÉS per Mallorca has based its argumentation in the general policy debate on a basic premise: "People are suffering because of your failure." Both MÉS per Mallorca have emphasized that the most important problems in the Balearic Islands have worsened this legislative term, both the housing emergency and tourist saturation. A situation aggravated by the rising cost of living, largely due to the war conflicts in Iran and Ukraine and the increase in fuel prices.

The spokesperson for MÉS per Mallorca, Lluís Apesteguia, began his intervention with a question: "Do we have a future in this land?". "The balance that matters is whether the people from here can continue living here and whether they can do so with dignity. And the answer, for more and more people, is no," he said. "Yesterday you said that the fault lay with the people who are suffering. That they don't dream enough. That they don't strive enough. That they don't sacrifice enough. And no: they suffer because they don't have a Government by their side. They suffer because of your Government. Because of your failure, Mrs. Prohens," he added.

The sovereignist spokesperson remarked that a good part of the housing problem is not due to a lack of supply, as the Popular Party claims. "There is no shortage of houses here. There is an excess of houses here that are not meant for living in. They are second homes, tourist rentals, investments by funds that buy entire buildings and empty them out. The houses are there. What happens is that they are not for the people from here," he criticized, and accused the Government of "looking the other way." "Mrs. Prohens, what has your Government done? Your recipe has always been the same: lower taxes for those who can already buy a home and build," he continued, despite the fact that in the Balearic Islands there are "100,000 empty homes."

Apesteguia also criticized that Prohens eliminated the possibility of building housing with the Sustainable Tourism Tax (ITS) and that now the recovery of this measure is one of the president's star announcements. "Yesterday you mocked everything and everyone. Your great proposal is to correct yourself," he stressed.

Furthermore, Apesteguia has announced that MÉS per Mallorca has presented a proposal to guarantee the residential use of land and prevent speculation there. "How will you vote on it?", he asked Prohens and warned her that "the housing problem will overwhelm you" if she does not take urgent measures. Other demands from the eco-sovereignist party have been an island minimum wage that allows for assuming the cost of living in the Balearic Islands and a specific VAT that compensates for insularity.

Regarding tourist overcrowding, the eco-sovereignist spokesperson has insisted on the need to degrow. "Degrow in tourist spots, in a planned and progressive way, so that there is less pressure and more quality. Do you believe we should maintain the figure of 20 million tourists per year?", he asked, and criticized the PSOE for the airport expansions that Aena is carrying out in the Balearic Islands.

Castells: "She only mentions Menorca to go through the motions"

For his part, the spokesperson for Més per Menorca, Josep Castells, reproached Prohens for only mentioning Menorca "to recite the mantra of 'Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera'" during the hour-and-a-half speech she gave this Monday. He also focused on the housing crisis, and criticized that the most important announcement on the matter was tax deductions. "With all housing measures having failed, what are we doing? Tax deductions that help those who can already afford it with mere crumbs," he said. "Is there anyone today who cannot afford an apartment who, with these deductions, will decide to buy one? No, no one," he insisted: "It is necessary to intervene in the market and regulate the price of housing."

Unides Podem deputy Jesús María García focused on the protests for housing, the protection of Es Trenc, and against the expansion of Ibiza airport that have taken place across the islands this legislative term. "They are challenging you," he said, and regretted that Prohens "did not even mention them" in her speech. "Mass tourism exhausts both the people and the territory," he continued, adding that the Government "shows signs of exhaustion": "The coming months will feel long for you."