MÉS per Mallorca has revived an initiative that the PP and Vox struck down in Parliament in 2024, because it considers that the affordable housing proposal recently made by the European Commission gives it new relevance. It is a bill against housing speculation—which, if approved, will have to be submitted to Congress—whose star measure is the restriction on the purchase of properties by companies and legal entities, such as investment funds, commercial companies, and businesses. The ultimate goal of the regulation, which they will re-register with some modifications in the coming weeks, is for the housing market to prioritize its social function over financial return. The leader of the eco-sovereigntists, Lluís Apesteguia, argues that this proposal can have a legal basis, but the President of the Government, Marga Prohens, accused him of promoting the "expropriation" of homes. Is it possible to prohibit vulture funds from acquiring housing in the Islands?

The President of the Government, Marga Prohens, defended herself this Tuesday in the plenary session against accusations from the leader of MÉS per Mallorca, Lluís Apesteguia, and the leader of Unides Podem, José María García, of favoring "speculation" in housing. The eco-sovereigntist demanded that the purchase of homes by legal entities—investment funds, commercial companies, and businesses—be prohibited and that tools be given to stressed municipalities to establish that purchased homes must be linked to being a habitual residence for a certain period. However, the president accused him of defending "expropriation".

The PSIB pressured the Government this Tuesday following the legalization of several luxury villas on rustic land in Sant Josep de sa Talaia (Ibiza) thanks to the urban planning amnesty it promoted two years ago. After ARA Balears uncovered the case, the socialist deputy Àlex Pitaluga accused the Executive of promoting a model of "luxury" and "consumption of territory and water," since in the midst of a water crisis these homes have swimming pools on protected land.

The spokesperson for the Socialist parliamentary group, Iago Negueruela, raised his tone against Aena this morning. In a press conference this Monday, Negueruela distanced himself from the manager of the airport network, 51% controlled by the State. "I will not defend Aena, as I am quite against it," he stated, and accused it of having "behaviors that are inadmissible" and of turning the infrastructure into a "sort of flea market" that "is far from" offering a professional service: "It does not surprise me that people are protesting."

The Supreme Court's decision to suspend the right to vote for a portion of Spaniards who have obtained nationality through the Democratic Memory Law has surprised both the beneficiaries and the rest of the voters abroad who are registered in the Electoral Roll of Spaniards Resident Abroad (CERA). The witnesses consulted by ARA Balears reject the idea of questioning an acquired fundamental right, as well as Vox's assumption that the socialist party might have wanted to inflate the census so that these votes would benefit them in the upcoming elections.

The census of absent resident voters (CERA) has grown considerably since October 2022, when the instruction regulating naturalizations through the Democratic Memory Law came into effect. Specifically, in the Balearic Islands, the increase has been 27%. Given this, the Supreme Court has acceded to the claims of Vox and Iustitia Europa and has temporarily blocked the right to vote for a portion of the people who have obtained nationality through this route. But the truth is that the votes of those registered in the CERA are a small percentage of the total. In the last general elections of 2023, they represented 0.84% of the country as a whole, and 0.46% of the Islands. How do these changes to the census affect things in practice?

The justification memorandum for DORA III, the Airport Regulation Document that sets the investments, capacity, and rates for Aena airports between 2027 and 2031, states that the Balearic Islands requested more investments to be able to expand airport capacity. The Balearic Government has categorically denied this, insisted that this point "is false," and asserted that it only requested "safety improvements and modernizations." Thus, it has shared a letter sent by the executive to the Balearic Airport Coordination Committee in which it specified that the improvements it was requesting were "not linked to an increase in passengers".

A private university in Costa Rica operating since 2025, Mundae Universidad, has promoted its Nursing degree using the Balearic Government's logo as a collaborating entity. It appeared in its official student recruitment dossier until this Wednesday, while it was removed from the website at the request of the IB-Salut, which claims it knew nothing about it. Mundae has denied this information and has assured that it currently does not use any of the mentioned logos in any document or section of its website, although it did appear in the dossier consulted yesterday by ARA Balears. The university admits that in the past it included the IB-Salut logo by mistake following a one-off collaboration with the Menorca Health Area. It also says that the current relationship with the CGE "is cordial".

The President of the Government, Marga Prohens, ruled out this Tuesday the possibility of limiting the purchase of second homes if it affects Balearic citizens. This position means de facto closing the door to one of the main measures proposed by the European Commission to address the housing crisis.

The deputy for Formentera in the Parliament, Llorenç Córdoba, demanded this Tuesday in the plenary session the resignation of the Minister of the Sea, Juan Manuel Lafuente, due to his management of the General Directorate of Coasts. The parliamentarian has supported the PP on almost all issues except for the repeal of the memory law this legislative term, but with the changes in criteria regarding the concession of sunbeds in Formentera, he has drawn a red line. After the general director was dismissed for establishing a requirement that was in line with technical criteria, Córdoba asked himself "who really set" the criteria that were finally applied to the Coast files during this legislative term: "The technicians and civil servants or the political leaders?".

Joan Simonet has not changed his phone number: almost the entire agricultural sector has his personal contact. The Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries has his own profile that, in recent months, the Government has tried to exploit by publishing videos where he appears hunting snakes, soaking at Es Trenc and walking around the port. “A star is born”, assure sources from the Executive, who consider the goal that Vox would not gain a foothold in the countryside—one of the far-right's obsessions—to be fulfilled. But despite the minister's popularity, the crisis in the primary sector does not subside. After the closure of iconic companies such as Agama, Piema, S’Esplet, and Carob, it is now also in doubt whether the agrarian law will go ahead, a regulation on which Simonet has worked throughout the legislative term.

The PP closed the door this Monday to limiting the purchase of second homes in the Balearic Islands. Although the Government said last Friday that it would "evaluate" the affordable housing bill proposal from the European Commission, the spokesperson for the popular parliamentary group, Sebastià Sagreras, has already warned three days later that they do not look favorably upon this measure, one of those proposed in the text. "We will study the scope of the measures, but I am already telling you that it is not even credible that MÉS per Mallorca could support it, because they would lose part of their electorate," said the popular party member at the press conference following the Board of Spokespersons at the Parliament.

The Government will "evaluate" the affordable housing draft law that the European Commission presented this week. The first vice president, Antoni Costa, has assured that they will even consider limiting the purchase of second homes if Brussels endorses it. He said this after the European Union (EU) opted to promote this limitation in areas affected by the housing crisis. The vice president also referred to the possibility of prohibiting the purchase of homes by non-residents, although the Commission's initiative does not cover this issue. "We are willing to analyze it if the door is opened," he explained.

The declassification of documents related to the Ceuta crisis by the Ministry of the Interior contains no report warning of a "high risk" of migrant arrivals in the Balearic Islands. Nevertheless, the PP has registered a written request in the Lower House demanding more data, and the Director General of Immigration, Manuel Pavón, has accused members of the Spanish government of "declassifying what interests them".

The declassification of official documents that the Ministry of the Interior carried out this Wednesday does not satisfy the Government of Marga Prohens, which this Thursday has returned to accuse the Spanish government of "hiding" information. "They declassify what interests them," said the director general of immigration, Manuel Pavón, in statements to the media.

The president of the Council of Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, appeared this Tuesday at the Parliament plenary session to defend the law to limit the entry of vehicles to Mallorca. "We are recovering the trust of citizens, tired of years of unfulfilled promises," he claimed from the rostrum. This regulation, which begins its processing in Parliament today, starts without any party against it. All parties except Vox, which abstained, have voted in favor of its consideration. But for it to reach the Chamber, Galmés had to overcome some obstacles. In the final year of the legislature, the approval of this initiative is now his main electoral card. Therefore, he has asked for it to be approved "as quickly as possible" so that it comes into force "next season".

President Marga Prohens has sought a direct confrontation with the PSIB in the first plenary session of the political year. During the control session for the Executive, she dodged criticism from the left regarding her tourism containment policies. Thus, she dug into the Spanish government's change of criteria regarding the Balearic law on airport co-management and the complaints from Aena, which has warned that it will try to stop it if it is approved in the Congress of Deputies. "They see our airports as a cash register," she retorted.

Over the weekend, "highest-level" calls were made to defend the bill for the airport co-management of the Islands. Conversations that, according to sources familiar with the negotiations, have succeeded in getting the Spanish government to withdraw its veto on the regulation being debated in the Congress of Deputies. But who picked up the phone? The sovereignists of MÉS or Francina Armengol? On this, there are contradictory versions.

The general coordinator of MÉS per Mallorca, Lluís Apesteguia, launched the party's proposal on immigration this Tuesday. It involves demanding the application of article 32.18 of the Statute of Autonomy, which provides for the transfer of executive and management powers over immigration to the Government. With this position, the eco-sovereigntists are defining their profile on an issue that has already become one of the main public concerns according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE). "It is an obligation not to leave the debate on migration policies in the hands of the right and the far-right," he explained in a press conference.

The 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.