The questions the mayor isn't answering about Palma's big urban development boom

PalmThis Thursday's plenary session of the Cort (City Council) was marked by tension and criticism from residents of the Palma City Council's governing team, led by Mayor Jaime Martínez, who failed to specify the main impacts on the city of Palma of the Land Acquisition Law, a law that paves the way for a major urban development boom. Civil society has questioned whether this law will help generate affordable housing and has made clear the great discontent generated by the loss of rural land.

What role has the Cort's governing team played in drafting a law that entails the largest territorial transformation in the city's recent history?

The question was posed by Joan Casanovas on behalf of the GOB (Basque Government). It is one of the issues raised by civil society and highlights public outrage, both at the substance of the measures and their method, as there has been no prior debate with citizen representatives. This resident of Son Sardina has expressed the feelings of thousands of residents of Palma's outlying neighborhoods, who do not understand why, suddenly, their privileged surroundings, the lungs of the city, would be automatically rezoned for apartment buildings.

The residents believe that it should be clarified—a politically relevant issue—who has been so instrumental in converting rural land in Palma into developable land by decree, without any of the procedures established by law. A downright rezoning that violates the principles of territorial planning, as the government team has pointed out in various interventions. Initially, Marga Prohens's decree-law only referred to increasing the development potential of Palma's land, but at Vox's request, rural land was also included, starting with the so-called transition areas.

Who is behind this Vox request, now legally binding? Residents and citizens suspect a prominent role for the mayor of Palma in shaping this model. In any case, the question also relates to an exponential increase in value, worth billions of euros, which will benefit the owners of rural properties, currently hounded by developers with checkbook in hand.

This, along with the increase in the development potential of Palma's land, are the two proposals of the law that the PP and Vox approved in Parliament to end Palma's housing problem, which have been criticized by citizen groups that spoke at the municipal plenary session, as well as the opposition. The July plenary session did not approve the application of the regulation—it is not directly applicable, but rather requires that city councils adhere to it—although political debate was swift.

In any case, the questions posed by citizens and those raised by the opposition received no clear response from either the mayor or the Councilor for Urban Planning. "The left did almost nothing to promote public housing," defended Councilor Óscar Fidalgo, a reflection that did nothing to appease public and political outrage.

Why are they meeting with developers and not with residents?

The government and municipal officials met with builders and developers from the very beginning of their term under the pretext of solving the housing problem, which has already reached emergency status. But residents are questioning how, before approving such important legislation, which will create thousands of apartments on rural land and increase the buildable area of urban land by 45%, no meetings were held to solicit proposals and opinions from those primarily affected: the residents.

The realization that this legislation is a pilot urban planning scheme—"the largest pilot urban planning scheme," in the words of Joan Casanova—is inevitable, because municipal officials haven't even bothered to stage something as basic as citizen participation. Land that was intended for facilities to build apartments—half of which is freely available in the case of developable land—and the countryside, the city's green lung, will be sacrificed, without residents having been able to give their opinions or contribute other solutions to the housing problem.

How will it really affect rural land?

One of the big unanswered questions in the municipal debate has been how many hectares and how much population the outskirts of Palma will be able to accommodate thanks to the new law. According to MÁS por Palma, 142,000 people. But Councilor Óscar Fidalgo attempted to refute the eco-sovereignty supporters and the PSIB, accusing them of hasty calculations. "Ms. Truyol has tossed around three different figures in a short time," he said of Neus Truyol, spokesperson for MÉS por Palma.

The law requires certain requirements to be met, and not all rural land can be built on, but neither Jaime Martínez nor his Councilor for Urban Planning have specified any figures because "municipal technicians need much more time to reach a conclusion." However, at no point did they deny that Palma's rural land will be filled with buildings.

Why do they listen to developers and surveyors and not the College of Architects?

These days, the Colleges of Quantity Surveyors and Architects have disagreed, after the latter strongly criticized the use of rural land when the area has sufficient urban and developable land. The dean of technical architects argued that, if it is necessary to build on rural land, it should be done to create more housing "for young people."

The College of Architects insisted on the importance of establishing a city and territorial model and not accumulating people without any kind of planning. For this reason, they also criticized the fact that the Land Acquisition Law ignores general plans and rezones land at full speed for the sake of housing creation.

Will Martínez have the essential support of Vox to develop the Palma countryside?

The Land Acquisition Law establishes that city councils must decide whether to sacrifice rural land, even if they have other types of land available. A few weeks ago, Vox spokesperson on Palma City Council, Fulgencio Coll, announced that he would not accept apartments on rural land until the city exhausted its urban and developable land.

Coll's intervention was surprising because it was the far-right party that demanded that Prohens bring rural land within the law. According to knowledgeable sources, Vox Palma received calls from voters in neighborhoods on the outskirts of Palma concerned about a measure that will saturate and congest traditionally quiet areas, such as Son Ferriol and Son Sardina.

Coll's position was highly anticipated during Thursday's plenary session. The Vox spokesperson made it clear that he had not changed his mind and that Palma must first exhaust its urban and developable land. This position by Vox worries the PP in Cort and the mayor, according to ARA Baleares. We'll have to wait until the law's implementation is approved by the committee and the plenary session to see what happens, but for now, Martínez has a significant challenge on this issue.

How can municipal land be transferred to developers who will charge rents of 1,500 euros?

Another question indignantly raised by neighborhood representatives at the plenary session concerned the transfer of six municipal plots for rentals that, despite supposedly being at a limited price, are close to market prices, according to the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). Although the Department of Urban Planning explained to ARA Baleares that "the figures provided by the PSOE are incorrect," reading the bidding documents has greatly concerned citizens.

According to the PSOE, the rentals will cost between €1,000 and €1,600, as they even include the cost of the property tax (IBI) that tenants must pay, as well as community fees, which can reach €233 per month. According to the Socialist spokesperson, Xisco Ducróss, "it is a true disgrace to classify these rentals as public."

The Department of Urban Planning insists that property tax will not be charged and that prices have been raised by the opposition to exaggerate the reality. The truth is that the transfer of the six plots was approved with the votes of the PP and Vox, and the outrage of the neighborhood representatives present. Podemos councilor Lucía Muñoz said that "they govern for the powerful."

What's happening with the water?

The opposition and residents have spoken in general terms about natural resources, and one, water, remains a mystery. As ARA Baleares reported, the numbers don't add up because the municipal reports prepared for the approval of the Urban Development Plan indicated a lack of water starting in 2027. And this is calculating a reasonable growth, without having passed a law that would allow for a 45% increase in the number of people who will live on rural land, thousands of whom will be living on rural land. Many questions remain unanswered.