The socialists of Maria de la Salut bring the new urban planning to debate

According to the Socialists, "social discontent has been laid bare by modifications that fail to incorporate a large part of the objections raised, along with complaints about the lack of explanations from the municipal government team." They added that "the planning report clearly states that some of the modifications included in the Subsidiary Regulations project were imposed by the mayor, Jaume Ferriol." The meeting was held to gather residents' opinions on the new municipal urban plan. According to the Socialists, "the outcome could not have been more disappointing: widespread rejection of a project that does not serve the general interest of the town and has not been sufficiently explained." In the presentation of the document a few weeks ago, the team from the Department of Territory and Urban Planning of the Consell de Mallorca, which drafted the María Regulations, outlined a project that prioritized compact growth and the protection of the town center's traditional character. The maximum population limit for Maria now reaches 3,550 inhabitants, an increase of 300 people from the limit indicated in the first draft of the modification, presented in 2023. According to the Socialists, "the residents present at the meeting expressed their disagreement with the planning. The municipality's Subsidiary Regulations clearly state that many of the incorporated modifications do not respond to the 297 objections submitted to the previous draft, but rather were 'imposed' by the mayor, Jaume Ferriol." Accusations

"Thus, changes to the project are discussed through the direct intermediation of Ferriol to eliminate a developable area in Font i Roig, delimit a new sector of developable industrial land next to the existing one, include land in the north of the center classified as parking and green area within a developable sector and the elimination of all openings that refer to the future of educational, social and cultural facilities, nor the need to think about a common project for the municipality, and not based on particular interests."

The Socialists of Maria point out that "in the drafting of this modification to the new urban development plan for Maria, there has been direct intervention by the mayor, which is reflected in the report itself, and which does not reflect the general interest of the residents of the municipality, in a document that should guide the future of the population for the coming decades."

The Socialists demand that, beyond the mayor's opinion, the planning for Maria "recapture the spirit it had during the previous legislature, in which the entire reform process began with a participatory consultation open to all citizens, which led to the drafting of a first version that Jaume Ferriol later revised to 2023."

Mayor

Jaume Ferriol, the mayor of Maria de la Salut, expressed his "astonishment" at the press release issued by the local Socialists. "First of all," Ferriol stated, "the perception that nobody likes these regulations doesn't reflect reality, since so far most people who have come to the Town Hall haven't expressed any dissatisfaction. In fact, a month after the period for submitting objections opened, there are only three or four, and they're for minor issues or details." Furthermore, the mayor explained, "If doing what the people, the majority of residents, have asked of me is being a dictator... then yes, we are." "The only thing I imposed on the Consell de Mallorca was that they had to consider the residents' objections. If they didn't take them into account, there was no point in implementing the regulations because I wouldn't apply them. And I think the result clearly demonstrates that the townspeople are satisfied."