9,000 homes in eight Strategic Residential Projects (PRE). These are the files that are already moving through Palma City Council and are going through the long process of obtaining a permit. This is the great commitment of the mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez, which is still far from being a reality. Especially if the initial processing has to go through different controls, such as that of the General Directorate of Water Resources. Martínez and his team wanted at least "some cranes" building hundreds of homes within a year, as has been said in some PP meetings, convinced that it is necessary to show that action is being taken against the housing shortage.

The Association for the Revitalization of Old Centers (ARCA) has submitted a set of allegations to the General Plan of Estellencs, currently in the public information phase, with the aim of strengthening the protection of the municipality's heritage, landscape, and territorial model. The entity registered its observations on May 25 and argues that the future of the town must be based on the conservation of its cultural and environmental values and avoid transformations that could irreversibly alter its identity.

The Government introduced a last-minute legal modification to water regulations to exempt some urban development operations from the need to obtain authorization from the Directorate General of Water Resources. An additional provision of the Omnibus Law approved by the PP and Vox allows for the avoidance of new water sufficiency reports (water availability) in certain cases, provided that a specific plan or project is not considered to increase demand or that the circumstances justifying previous reports have not changed.

Palma wants to continue growing in population and Jaime Martínez's team does not intend to give up on this despite the lack of water that the Water Resources technicians already detected and confirmed in the year 2023. This is one of the conclusions of the Sustainable Water Management Plan promoted by Emaya, which has just completed the public exhibition period. The document advocates for increasing desalination and extracting more water from underground: up to 10 million more liters per day than are currently obtained, despite the delicate situation of the aquifers.

At a time when the inland towns of Mallorca face the challenge of climate emergency and the loss of urban identity, young voices like that of Miquel Fiol Munar (Costitx, 2000) offer a fresh, necessary, and well-studied perspective. An architect trained at the ETSAV (UPC) in Sant Cugat, Fiol combines his professional work at the Marès studio in Inca with his own personal project, amf.studio, from which he explores an architecture committed to the territory and heritage.

Year 1994. In Son Espanyolet, a residential neighborhood of Palma characterized by its ground floors and corrals, life revolves around a couple of nerve centers. There is a parish center, owned by the Theatines, which hosts everything from the Espanyol basketball club to the now-defunct Nostra Terra theater company. On a corner, on Contestí street, a haberdashery is much more than a shop: it is a meeting point, where many people who learn to sew and crochet spend their afternoons.

A new development of homes on Joan Bauzà street, in the Palman neighborhood of Pere Garau, has ignited debate among residents over sale prices. Most apartments exceed 330,000 euros before VAT, with amounts that can reach over 530,000 euros (including VAT), figures that many residents consider beyond the reach of the area's usual population (and which expel them from the neighborhood where they have grown up and want to live).

What about the covered pavilion that has been due to be built for years around the Torre dels Enagistes sports area? What are the problems that mean a project so necessary for Manacor's sport still hasn't even had the land bought?

Bunyola takes a step forward in public housing. The Balearic Housing Institute has put out to tender the drafting of the project for the construction of ten public protection homes in the municipality, an action that aims to expand the public stock and facilitate access to decent housing, especially for young people and families.

Last March, the Ministry of the Water Cycle and the Sea signed the authorization to carry out the demolition of Pedro J. Ramírez's pool in Costa de los Pinos, after a long legal battle since 2004. The case was well known by its owner (now Agatha Ruiz de la Prada), but in the Balearic Islands there are dozens of other pools in public maritime-terrestrial domain. And not only that: hotels, restaurants, and –of course– villas have also been built, some directly on the beach. All these uses are prohibited because the public domain is a strip that occupies the first meters of the coast and extends as far as a beach, dune system, or wetland reaches. Some of these constructions obtained temporary concessions in the past, but most have already expired. In total, it is estimated that there are more than 2,000 irregular constructions, many of which with demolition orders. The lack of resources from the State Coastal Demarcation has allowed cement to illegally occupy the front line for decades. One of the most striking cases is that of Bungalow, in Palma, a restaurant that has never even had a concession and continues to operate despite demolition orders.

Contrary to what the courts had stated in the first instance, the Consell de Mallorca will have to compensate the developer who had a license to build a housing development in El Guix (Escorca). The Superior Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands (TSJIB) has partially upheld the appeal of the developer Urnova regarding the long urban planning dispute of El Guix, which triggered the controversy over the impact of a set of chalets adjacent to the Lluc monastery. The court recognizes the company's right to be compensated for five plots of land affected by the urban planning declassification that was carried out to prevent construction in such an emblematic location. The court, however, rejects the bulk of the compensation requested, corresponding to the main housing construction project that was never executed.

Cales de Mallorca, the main hotel and therefore tourist area of the municipality of Manacor, has been demanding urban planning reception for decades. Born in the 60s as a private promotion of apartments and hotels to meet the demand of the first sun and beach boom, it has since incorporated a stable population that, despite paying taxes and fees for municipal services, receives almost no maintenance in return.

The Palma City Council has definitively approved the statutes and bases of the compensation board for the Son Ximelis Strategic Residential Project, a situation that opens the way to the urbanization of 143,649 square meters, where 1,080 homes can be built, according to municipal data. Of the total, 530 homes will have some type of public protection. The project had initial approval, but final approval was necessary to step on the accelerator.

The news, first reported by ARA Balears, about the Govern's authorization to demolish Pedro J. Ramírez's illegal pool took the case's complainant, Jaume Sastre, by surprise. "My lawyer is traveling and I don't know if they've notified us. Obviously, when I read it, I was happy because it's been many years of struggle, and it's one more step," he admits.

More than a hundred residents of Palma have joined this Saturday in a human chain to show their rejection of the construction of a car park and other municipal facilities on the plots adjacent to the old Gesa building. The protest, called by the association Parc Sí, took place in the same place where, according to residents' complaints, the City Council intends to build a "macrocar park" and new infrastructure.

A few days ago I was talking with a good friend who had just returned from a trip to Argentina and Chile. We were talking about the 'countries' Argentinians, these gated, guarded, and secure communities that the upper-middle classes have had to build to feel safe in a country where the fracture caused by inequality translates not only into a considerable crime rate, although it has been decreasing, but also into a perception of insecurity that persists despite these measures. The explanation is simple, as my friend pointed out to me: the rich are afraid. They don't live in their ivory towers, exclusive apartment complexes, and luxury penthouses for aesthetic reasons—or at least not only for that—but because they are terrified.

The government of Pedro Sánchez has decided to take Law 3/2025 on the protection and management of the Valencian coast to the Constitutional Court. This law, like the one prepared by the central government, aims to create a framework to protect irregular buildings and economic activities within the public maritime-terrestrial domain. Bars, small restaurants, and shacks that violate the national Coastal Law are included in the register of constructions that the regulations consider to be of "cultural interest." under the pretext of protecting heritageAccording to the Valencian regional government, the objective of the regulation is "to guarantee legal certainty and the continuity of existing economic activities, including constructions that, without prejudice to compliance with sector-specific regulations, are considered to be of cultural interest." The government of Marga Prohens The standard has been finalized and is ready to be approved as a bill. and process it in Parliament, but sources within the Executive assure that this will not happen until after Easter.

The Government has put out to tender a contract worth 1.3 million euros to outsource the drafting and processing of reports for the Directorate General of Water Resources With the aim of streamlining procedures, especially those related to housing construction projects, the decision comes at a time of intense pressure from the development sector, which has been complaining for months about delays in water impact reports. These delays are hindering the granting of licenses and the start of construction in a context of soaring demand for housing. The President of the Balearic Government, Marga Prohens, defended the measure in Parliament a week ago, asserting that it reflects the Executive's commitment to addressing administrative bottlenecks. "Our government program pledged to tackle these bottlenecks," she reminded the assembly, also highlighting decisions made at the beginning of the legislative term with the same objective. In this regard, Prohens cited the elimination of the Balearic Environmental Commission, which placed environmental impact assessments in the hands of technical experts rather than a politically appointed body. According to the president, this reform has allowed for an 82% increase in the pace of reports in the first year and a 36% increase in the second. "If it's yes, it's yes; if it's no, it's no, but now in a more agile, more objective, and more rigorous way," she stated. Now, the focus is on Water Resources, a department that, according to the Government, had accumulated delays of up to three and a half years when the legislature began. The Executive maintains that activity has doubled in two and a half years, partly due to the increase in files resulting from measures approved to promote affordable housing, such as the conversion of commercial premises, limited-price developments, and new public housing projects. Complaints from developers

The reality is that developers have lodged complaints with the Government because, on the one hand, regulations and solutions are announced, but on the other, construction projects are not moving forward. The developers' complaints have reached the Consolat de Mar (the seat of the Balearic Government), where the decision has been made to outsource the reports. Government sources anticipate criticism regarding a lack of oversight and assure that "all authorizations will be signed and reviewed by the Administration, as expected." The decision, therefore, is not without debate. Outsourcing reports in such a sensitive area as public water resources—key in a territory with limited resources and subject to intense urban development pressure—is seen by some sectors as a double-edged sword. While it may help shorten deadlines and unblock projects, it also raises questions about public oversight, the uniformity of criteria, and the Administration's capacity to supervise the work commissioned to external companies. Declarations of responsibility

The Government asserts that it has increased resources, modified the internal structure—creating a specific service for managing public water resources and another for planning, works, and maintenance—established different processing queues according to the type of file, and reinforced the teams with support from Tragsa. It has also promoted electronic administration and processing through self-declarations in cases where regulations allow. According to Prohens, these measures have reduced the backlog of files by more than 50%. However, the Government believes they are insufficient to handle the current volume and anticipates that outsourcing will further boost processing. The outsourcing announced by the Government is thus part of a broader administrative reform strategy aimed at reducing processing times and facilitating economic activity, especially in the housing sector. The fundamental question is to what extent this streamlining can be reconciled with maintaining guarantees in the management of a strategic resource like water, which is currently in a critical situation in the Islands.

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The mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez, has won the first of his battles against the Ministry of the Sea and the Water Cycle, meaning the Palma City Council (Cort) will be able to grant building permits for urban development projects without the involvement of the Water Resources Department when dealing with flood-prone areas. This was announced on Tuesday by Minister Juan Manuel Lafuente, who confirmed an exceptional procedure "agreed upon with the Palma City Council so that it can directly inform the Water Resources Department's reports," he explained in response to a question from Vox deputy Patricia de las Heras. Lafuente admitted that this decision was made to expedite building permits. ARA Baleares had previously reported that the Palma City Council had long been demanding not to have to go through the Directorate General of Water Resources to authorize the large apartment developments that have been made possible by regulations promoting new housing. For now, the Balearic Government, and subsequently confirmed by the Palma City Council, have agreed that the City Council can proceed without going through the department specifically responsible for flood zones. Until now, regulations stipulated that these actions had to ensure water sufficiency, and that it was also necessary to determine the degree of impact on the flood zone map. However, Lafuente has hinted that, thanks to administrative simplification laws, Palma has now been authorized. The official objective is to reduce timelines and streamline bureaucratic procedures that, according to the Government, are blocking investment and housing projects. But there are technicians at the Palma City Council who do not share the argument of obstruction, and some have confessed to ARA Baleares that there is "pressure to build apartments at any cost." "They want images of developments underway to meet housing needs, and water sufficiency bothered them," said a specialist who requested anonymity. In this regard, the pressure exerted by Mayor Jaime Martínez on the Government was well known: the mayor asserted that the strategy of building more apartments clashed with the reluctance of the Water Resources Department. As this newspaper previously reported, this pressure from the Palma City Council (Cort) has been exerted within a context of strong urban development in Palma, and the mayor has defended the need to accelerate the construction of apartments and residential developments in response to the housing emergency. The municipal government team has taken advantage of regulations such as the Land Acquisition Decree Law and other measures approved with the support of the PP and Vox parties in the Balearic Parliament to allow for greater residential density and faster development of buildable land. This legal framework anticipates accelerating the construction of "thousands of apartments," and the City Council maintains that, thanks to these measures, results in the form of new housing could be seen during this legislative term. There are figures of up to 20,000 new homes in various official announcements, but the reality is that most of these homes were already planned under the existing urban development plan, and the maximum possible under the new scheme would be a smaller but still significant number. In any case, some developments already underway occupy, at least partially, flood-prone areas, and this fact has strained relations between the Palma City Council (Cort) and the Balearic Government (Govern).

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The Deputy Mayor and Councillor for Urban Planning, Housing, and Strategic Projects of Palma City Council, Óscar Fidalgo, predicted that it is "unlikely" that any construction will take place in the city's transition zones while he is in charge of the department. The councillor thus questioned Vox's proposal to accelerate the urbanization of these lands and their criticisms of the regional government on this matter. "Anyone who claims, with any kind of rhetoric, to guarantee housing tomorrow in any city in Spain is lying because housing requires planning and has construction timelines. The City Council begins by explaining the truth to the people and presenting its plans," he stated. In the press conference following the Urban Planning Department meeting, he announced that the People's Party (PP) will vote against Vox's motion along these lines, "unless they provide an extraordinary and compelling argument." Fidalgo emphasized that regional legislation regarding these transition zones stipulates that developable land must first be exhausted or a report must be submitted justifying why it is not being developed. The councilor also pointed out that Palma City Council is focused on building 15,000 new homes on developable land and that "more than half" of them will be price-controlled or officially protected housing. He also stressed the aim to begin construction on the first 166 promised price-controlled homes and to bid, "as soon as possible," on another package of 807 homes on land designated for public facilities. "The same criteria"

Fidalgo emphasized that the City Council has maintained "the same criteria" and, in his view, Vox has "changed its mind" by wanting to move forward with the development of the transition areas, and it should be them who explain their reasons. "Everyone is free to say what they want to people and create expectations, but the law says what it says, and even if I wanted to, which I don't, there is a legal requirement that obliges development on developable land," he insisted. He also stated that the City Council is working on Strategic Residential Projects, with more than 60% of the properties designated for affordable housing and social housing. "Everything else is just smoke and mirrors. The election campaign has been in Aragon recently, and before that it was in Extremadura, so it seems some are already campaigning. The City Council is managing the reality and trying to improve it," he stressed.

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