The Hong Kongization of Palma: The PP and Vox law allows for 142,000 new residents on rural land.

PalmNew estimate of the population increase Palma will experience due to the urbanization of rural land: 142,681 people. The figure was estimated by the MÉS party for Palma based on an analysis of the Land Acquisition Law, which was approved a few weeks ago by the PP and Vox and which the party's spokesperson, Neus Truyol, describes as the "Hong Kongization of Palma."

The Land Acquisition Law approved by the People's Party (PP) with the support of Vox in Parliament will allow for the total disfigurement of Palma's rural neighborhoods, with a total of 634 hectares of rural land, where nothing could be done until now, now open to development. This will mean that emblematic towns like Son Ferriol will see their population increase by more than 8,000 people, practically doubling it. Furthermore, the MÉS spokesperson for Palma pointed out that "these are neighborhoods with traditional houses, generally low-rise, and now they will be completely surrounded by apartment buildings. It's an outrage that will disfigure the city's rural landscape and irreversibly saturate it," she said this morning on ARA Baleares.

The Levante coast will welcome nearly 20,000 new inhabitants; Pla de Sant Jordi, 29,000; Levante, 3,700; the North, 58,000; and Ponent, 31,000, totaling 142,681, which has scandalized the eco-sovereignty party. Neus Truyol asks "where will the facilities and services be located for all this new population, which will also saturate access to Palma. This is not solving the housing problem, but pure speculation and land rezoning," she stated.

By neighborhoods

El Pomelo will also see its population increase by a whopping 365%. This figure will add 4,300 more people to the current 1,192, thanks to the use of the 1,934 hectares of rural land surrounding it. "Of course, the entire 100 meters of the strip surrounding the towns are being used, and therefore, we are facing a terrifying change in the model of these centers, which will have an impact on all aspects: mobility, resources, and access to basic services," Truyol stated.

Son Sardina, one of the towns where there is the greatest concern about the new territorial model promoted by the PP and Vox, and where the collection of signatures has already begun, will see its population increase by 315%, "much more than we had initially estimated," said Neus Truyol. Specifically, the population will increase by 9,000 new inhabitants, and currently the census only lists 2,862 residents. The case of Establiments also has a significant impact on the traditional town, which will receive up to 11,715 people, representing a 375% increase in the current population of 2,968.

Son Vida, currently an exclusive luxury area, could also see its layout modified, as the population could quadruple with 1,845 new residents. Son Quin could gain 5,580 inhabitants, and Son Ximelis, with a huge 80-hectare plot of rural land, will break all records with a 770% increase in population. Son Puig will receive a new population of 5,671, representing a 123% increase compared to the current 4,598.

The cases of La Garriga and Son Espanyol, traditional rural neighborhoods, are also especially significant: the former will see its population increase by 2,722 people, doubling it, and the latter will receive 4,692 new inhabitants, an increase of 670%.

All of this is motivated by the Land Acquisition Law, which, according to the analysis conducted by MÁS por Mallorca, "is not worded in the same way as the rest of the towns with more than 20,000 inhabitants, but is much more expansive, to limits we could not even imagine," according to Truyol. The reason is that in the case of Palma, unlike the rest of the towns, it will not be necessary for the rural land developed to make apartments to be in contact with areas of multi-family land, "but in the case of the island's capital, the reclassification of practically all rural transitional land, known as transition areas, is allowed."

Furthermore, another limiting factor established by law for the development of new apartments on rural land was that rezoning could not be carried out in contact with industrial or service land. However, this does not apply in Palma's case, so up to 634 hectares can be built on, which will mean a population increase of the aforementioned.