The Congress moves a piece to adapt the insularity supplement to the high cost of living in the Balearic Islands
The norm has moved forward with the support of all parliamentary groups, except Vox, which has voted against it
PalmaThe plenary session of the Congress of Deputies on Thursday validated the Royal Decree-Law that obliges the Spanish government to review, within a maximum of six months, the amounts of the residence allowance received by personnel of the General State Administration assigned to the Balearic Islands. The objective is to adapt this supplement to the current cost of living in the archipelago and facilitate the coverage of positions in public services.
The measure is included in Royal Decree-Law 19/2026, approved on June 29, which also regulates the early partial retirement of public administration staff. The regulation went ahead with the support of all parliamentary groups, except Vox, which voted against it, while the PP and Junts abstained.
The text establishes that the Executive will have to negotiate previously with the workers' representatives and approve a modification of the amounts within a maximum of six months. Furthermore, it clarifies that the update will not entail a reduction in the amounts currently received by public employees for this concept.
According to the decree itself, the review responds to the existing mismatch between the real cost of living in the Balearic Islands and the current residence allowance. The Spanish government considers that this difference makes it difficult to attract and retain personnel in the General State Administration and puts the coverage of essential public services on the islands at risk.
The regulation points out, among the causes of this situation, insularity, the high price of housing, the increased cost of goods and services, and mobility difficulties, factors that make it complicated to fill and stabilize certain positions, especially those requiring qualified personnel or experiencing high turnover.
The Government advocates for an "urgent" measure
During the debate in Congress, the minister for Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López, defended that the update of the supplement is an "urgent" measure to prevent the General State Administration from continuing to lose capacity to fill vacancies in the Balearic Islands due to the high cost of living.
For its part, the Popular Party criticized that the Spanish government has resorted to a decree-law to regulate aspects related to public function and called for a comprehensive reform of the system negotiated with the workers' representatives.