Sánchez maintains confidence in the government delegate after the police charges of 26J

PalmaThe president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, assured this Wednesday in Palma that he maintains his "absolute confidence" in the delegate of the state executive in the Balearic Islands, Alfonso Rodríguez, after the controversy surrounding police violence against anti-tourist demonstrators on July 26. Sánchez showed his support for Rodríguez after a meeting of more than two hours with the Spanish king, Felipe VI, in which the fires in Madrid, Ávila, and Zamora were the focus of much of the meeting. "I want to express my absolute empathy with the citizens," he remarked. Sánchez acknowledged that he has not yet spoken about the incidents with Rodríguez and pointed out that he hopes the investigation ordered by the delegate will serve to "determine responsibilities".

Regarding the claims against tourist saturation, the Spanish president focused them on housing and called on the president of the Government, Marga Prohens, to apply the state law to limit rental and purchase prices. "The Spanish government's law allows for intervention in a market that is out of control, but there are governments that refuse to use it due to neoliberal dogmatism and partisanship," he said.

"There is no government that has bet more clearly on sustainability and the modernization of the hotel sector so that it sells higher quality tourism and spending capacity," continued Sánchez, who ignored the expansions of the airports of Palma and Ibiza carried out by Aena.

A "turning point" in the Algerian migratory route

Sánchez also spoke about the migratory route from Algeria to the Balearic Islands, and assured that his meeting with President Abdelmayid Tebboune on July 20 will mark "a turning point" in the arrival of migrants to the Islands, as he also conveyed to the President of the Government, Marga Prohens. Sánchez conveyed to the Algerian government the need to activate repatriation mechanisms to curb the arrival of makeshift boats. "There is a turning point in the bilateral relationship after the visit," Sánchez remarked.

The pardon for Laura Borràs

The president also referred to the partial pardon of the former president of the Parliament of Catalonia, Laura Borràs, and denied that the decision was made to obtain Junts' support for the state budgets. "It is a partial pardon as a consequence of a resolution from the Superior Court of Justice of Catalonia, which considered the penalty to be excessive". "The sentence is complied with: embezzlement is maintained, but not the prison sentence", he added.

In the meeting of the Council of Ministers on Tuesday, the government granted a pardon to Borràs, thanks to which the sentence of four years, six months, and one day in prison for a crime of prevarication and document forgery will be commuted, although the disqualification of 13 years is maintained. "This has nothing to do with the budgets or politics", he stated.

Call for unity

Regarding the fires affecting several Spanish provinces, Sánchez has called for unity among political forces. "We are united in reaction, but it is about being united in prevention too," he said. The president has once again asked for caution from the public, even more so with the heatwave that began this Wednesday and will last until Sunday.

At present, there are 10 active forest fires. "We are in a critical situation, due to high temperatures, low humidity, and wind," explained Sánchez, who took the opportunity to announce that he has asked the European Commission for Mallorca to be the seat of a European center for fighting fires in the western Mediterranean, which would be located at the Son Sant Joan air base – the center for the eastern Mediterranean will be in Cyprus.