Prohens' contradiction with migrants: denies they worsen public services and the next day assures that they do

Palma"Healthcare [assistance] for people without legal residence represents 1%. We must attend to them for reasons of humanity and public health." This is how Prohens spoke in the Parliament plenary on Tuesday about what the attention to migrants means for the services of the Islands, who, despite residing in the Balearic Islands, have not yet regularized their administrative situation. The president had to respond to a question from Vox about the healthcare spending for the attention of people in an irregular situation, a pointless request, as Prohens herself made clear: "IB-Salut only has one budget and one accounting, and no items are distinguished based on where they come from." "A public representative should know this," she reproached the spokesperson for the far-right, Manuela Cañadas, who this Wednesday has accused the Government of opacity for not making non-existent data public. "Mrs. Prohens has decided that the money of all citizens is a state secret," criticized Cañadas.

Although on Tuesday it seemed that Prohens stood up to the far-right, warning them of the dangers of populism, the president has reversed her arguments this Wednesday, once the regularization decreed by the Spanish government was published in the BOE. The president has pointed out that the regularization will cause a worsening of public services, which already cater to these migrants – they have been residing in the Balearic Islands for months. She has also indicated that there will be greater pressure on the housing market. "The result will be worse public services for the citizens of the Balearic Islands, because this regularization does not come with a commitment to more funding," the president continued, in addition to reiterating the need to reformulate the regional financing system.

Although migration powers are exclusive to the State, the Government will file an appeal against the regularization before the Supreme Court with the aim of having this measure, which will come into effect on Thursday, provisionally suspended. "The practical cost of this regularization falls exclusively on the autonomous communities, which is why we consider that we can appeal," he argued.

The president also reiterated two common criticisms from the right and far-right regarding the regularization. On the one hand, she said that this measure will mean "a pull effect," even though only people who have been residing in Spain for months will be regularized; and, on the other hand, she predicted that this measure will "benefit" the mafias that traffic in people, without mentioning the companies that have migrant workers in an irregular situation with abusive working conditions.

Furthermore, Prohens regretted that the Spanish government ignores "the warnings from the European Commission", which indicated that migrants regularized in an extraordinary manner "would only be legal in Spain". "The Government, in the same line as all European countries of different political leanings, defends legal and orderly migration. The Balearic Islands have always been a land of welcome for those who come to work, to contribute, to integrate and to respect the laws and culture", she emphasized.

Regarding the inclusion of the requirement of a certificate of absence of criminal records in the regularization process – a responsible declaration will no longer be enough – the president ironically stated: "If they expect me to thank them for limiting criminals from entering this regularization process... I think it is the minimum to ask for a criminal record certificate beyond the responsible declaration. Not everyone who arrives is a criminal, but not everyone is a being of light", she commented. At this point, Prohens criticized that the left called her "racist and fascist" for "not wanting to let criminals enter without asking them if they are criminals".

When asked about the estimate of 30,000 potential beneficiaries in the Balearic Islands from the Minister of the Presidency, Antònia Maria Estarellas, Prohens has shown caution. "We do not have reliable data from the [Spanish] government", which estimated that the regularized in the Islands would be around 10,800. "They ask us to be prepared for a process that we do not know how many people it will affect", she added. The president expressed concern about family reunifications and the "collapse" in consular offices due to the regularization, and also accused some migrants of losing "their passport all of a sudden" to avail themselves of this measure. "The irresponsibility is such that I do not dare to give a figure until the process ends", she stated.