The Spanish government will withdraw the veto on the processing of airport co-management

PalmaThe government will lift the veto on the processing of the airport co-management bill. Sources from the presidency of Congress confirm that Francina Armengol will remove from the Bureau's agenda the item where the report sent last Friday by the Ministry of the Presidency was to be debated. In the text, La Moncloa argued that the law could not be debated because, if the Balearic Government participated in the management of the airports, this would harm Aena's interests. Sources from SUMAR-MÉS explain that the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, in collaboration with the eco-sovereignist deputy Vicenç Vidal, have interceded on this issue throughout the weekend. Finally, Urtasun has reached an agreement in the Council of Ministers with the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, to withdraw this veto on the regulation.

The Spanish government's decision implies that the bill will be able to be debated and voted on in Congress. This initiative by MÉS per Mallorca originates from the Parliament, where it went ahead with the favorable votes of MÉS, the PP, and Més per Menorca, while the PSIB and Unides Podem abstained, alleging that it could collide with State powers, and only Vox voted against it. The deputy spokesperson for the Socialist party, Marc Pons, insisted this Monday that the text had technical and legal "weaknesses and frailties": "We said there was a high risk that it would fail". However, sources from the Congress presidency assure that Armengol communicated to the Spanish government that this veto had to be lifted, and Pedro Sánchez's executive finally "committed" to it. The vote was supposed to take place today at 5 PM in Congress, but it will not take place after all.

The proposal by MÉS per Mallorca is framed within the debate on tourist overcrowding: the eco-sovereigntists argued that, if the number of arrivals is to be limited, the Community must be able to decide on the flights arriving at the Islands. Between January and July 2026, Palma airport received 19.6 million passengers, according to Aena's data.

The Ministry of the Presidency warned that this bill would cause a drop in "Aena's aeronautical revenues" of between 32.5 and 32.9 million euros according to 2026 passenger data, a fact that would cause the dividends received by the State (owner of 51% of the managing company's shares) to also decrease by between 5.1 and 8.3 million euros. In the same vein, it argued that changes in the management of infrastructure would negatively affect Aena's assets and its value on the stock market. Furthermore, it ensured that the regulation could infringe upon the State's exclusive powers and put the financial and operational stability of the airport network at risk. Finally, the ministry defended a centralized model, because it guarantees "solidarity" between territories and connectivity.

According to Article 134.6 of the Constitution, any proposal or amendment that implies an increase in credits or a decrease in budgetary income requires the conformity of the Spanish government to be processed. Nevertheless, the eco-sovereigntists considered that the Spanish government was using this power to block the initiative in an untimely manner.