The president of the Consell de Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, has called an extraordinary plenary session next Friday to approve the law regulating vehicle flow on the island. The Popular Party plans to approve the measure without Vox, which has strongly opposed it. For now, it already has the support of MÉS per Mallorca, which has given a "welcome" to the PP for a rule that the left had proposed. The PSIB has also shown itself in favour of the initiative, although it has not guaranteed its support until the text is analysed. Once it moves forward, the text must be sent to Parliament for it to be processed and given final approval.

The Consell de Mallorca upholds the Supreme Court (TS) ruling that annuls the state's single registry of tourist rentals, considering that the State lacks the competence to impose this regulation against existing autonomous systems.

The Museum of Mallorca received this Wednesday the portolan chart of Pere Rossell dated 1447, one of the most outstanding pieces of medieval Mallorcan cartography, which the Consell de Mallorca acquired in April from the Sotheby's auction house in London.

MÁS per Mallorca has this week kicked off various primary processes. In a month, the list leaders of the main candidacies will be proclaimed, but there are already some names appearing in the quinielas. Lluís Apesteguia will repeat as list leader for the Parlament. The mayor of Manacor, Miquel Oliver, is emerging as the option for the Consell de Mallorca, and among the options to replace him in the City Council, councilor Ferran Montero has gained strength. Palma is the big unknown: the leadership offered former minister Fina Santiago to be number one, but she has not accepted the proposal. As a B option, the name of professor David Pujol is being considered. But this has a handicap: there would be no woman among the prominent list leaders.

The socialist group of the Consell de Mallorca has accused the president of the Consell de Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, of hiding the island institution's agreements with large vacation rental platforms, such as Airbnb. In a statement, the party assures that it has registered "multiple information requests" in this regard from both the Presidency and Tourism departments, without being able to access the documentation. Faced with this, the group will report the facts to the Council of Transparency of Spain, as it already did last week following the Consell's refusal to provide the agreement that enables the transfer of waste from Ibiza to be incinerated in Mallorca.

Pedro Bestard ordered that one of the new vehicles acquired by the Department of Environment of the Consell de Mallorca be reserved for him and that it not be labeled as an official car of the institution. "This car, reserve it for me," sources familiar with the matter confirm that Bestard said, who would be responsible for not labeling it.

"It is impossible to put an end to illegal tourist offerings." This is how forceful an inspector from the Consell de Mallorca, who wishes to remain anonymous, is in conversation with ARA Balears. She knows firsthand the work done by the 26 inspectors of this island institution, who monitor both regulated and unregulated offerings. According to this source's account, it is much easier to detect infringements by licensed owners than to penalize those who operate outside the system. "It's not easy at all to prove there's illegal offering," she points out: "They are very clever." In this regard, she warns that, although fines have been toughened, her perception is that "very many procedures expire.

The racism and the national priority criterion of Vox have played a trick on the Consell de Mallorca, which has approved the second package of social measures to mitigate the effects of the war in Iran. The requirement to prove five years of continuous residence in Mallorca demanded by the far-right has generated a paradox: if you are from Minorca, Ibiza, or Formentera and have been living in Mallorca for less than five years, you are not entitled to receive any aid from the island institution, no matter how vulnerable your situation; on the other hand, if you are an immigrant who has exceeded five years of residence, you can receive it. In summary: the criterion imposed by Vox will exclude people whom the far-right considers 'nationals' and will help others against whom Vox rails daily in the institutions of the Islands. The question at this point is: had Vox calculated the impact of this demand?

The desire for fun has no age limit. The celebration of an 'horabauxa' is one of the novelties with which the Feria de la Gent Gran (Great People's Fair), organized by the Consell de Mallorca, will close in Porreres on April 25th. It is a festival that in its previous edition in 2025 brought together up to 3,000 people in ses Salines.

The Consell de Mallorca, together with representatives of MÉS por Mallorca, El Pi, Vox and the PP, have signed a joint initiative for to demand that the state government approve a new highway agreement which would allow investment of up to 350 million euros in the island's road infrastructure. The PSOE is the only group not participating in the request.

Mallorca now boasts its first officially approved public climbing walls for regional, national, and international competitions. The Sant Ferran sports center today inaugurated two new facilities—one for speed climbing and one for lead climbing—which will expand the island's climbing offerings, previously primarily limited to private initiatives. The event included an exhibition by elite athlete Erik Noya and a demonstration by young Mallorcan climbers from the Balearic Mountain and Climbing Federation's training program.

"We must put restraint on the table. Now is the time to stop. It's time to set limits." These were the words of the president of the Council of Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, in May 2024 at the press conference where he announced that the island institution would reduce the number of tourist accommodations in Mallorca. The announcement made it clear that the Popular Party admitted the island was saturated and, moreover, it perfectly aligned with the flagship measure that the president still intends to implement, despite being stalled: limiting the entry of vehicles. "The goal is to feel visited, not invaded," proclaimed the former island councilor for Tourism, Marcial Rodríguez, to reinforce Galmés's idea. With just over a year left in his term, the president has still not implemented any measures against saturation. In fact, Galmés's strategy against saturation is clear: make grand announcements while opening new markets to attract more visitors to Mallorca. The Balearic Islands are projected to receive over 19 million tourists in 2025, 13.55 million of whom will visit Mallorca. In this context, the Consell (Island Council) has signed agreements for new routes with airlines such as Etihad, which will operate three weekly direct flights from Palma between Mallorca and Abu Dhabi starting in June. In fact, the capital of the United Arab Emirates is a crucial connection point to Asia. Currently, connecting the Balearic Islands with the Asian continent requires a layover in Frankfurt. "Some people prefer to pay for a direct flight," says Pedro Fiol, president of the Balearic Islands Business Association of Travel Agencies (Aviba).

The three shipping companies The companies that handle freight, passenger, and vehicle traffic in the Balearic Islands (Trasmed, Baleària, and GNV) believe that vehicle restrictions in Mallorca should be implemented "based on rigor, data, and dialogue," according to Baleària's president, Alfonso Utor, who spoke on Thursday after meeting with the Consell de Mallorca (Mallorca Council). He added that the three companies are fully and completely willing to collaborate with the island institution to "find solutions to the island's traffic congestion problems." "We are ready to collaborate with public officials in any way they request," he emphasized.

The governing coalition of the Consell de Mallorca, made up of the PP and Vox parties, is beginning to take steps to fulfill one of its major electoral promises: to allow the hunt on public estates. This Tuesday, the island council conducted a pilot test on the Tossals Verds and Son Fortuny estates with the aim of "evaluating the recovery of hunting activity in these areas," as explained by the council in a statement. The island council assured that "no incidents related to the public use of the estates were detected, and it has been demonstrated that hunting is fully compatible with hiking and other recreational uses." For his part, the vice president of the island council and also the councilor for the Environment, Rural Affairs, and Sports, Pedro Bestard, emphasized that the pilot test "seeks to reintegrate land management with activities that have been part of the rural reality of the estates." He insisted that the initiative "has reflected the successful coexistence between hunting and other recreational uses."

A real estate developer has filed a legal appeal against the decision by the Consell de Mallorca (Island Council of Mallorca) to cancel the call for applications for tourist rental units managed by the Consorcio Bolsa de Alojamientos Turísticos (CBAT). The company has filed the appeal with the Court of First Instance, Administrative Litigation Section No. 1 of Palma, challenging the October resolution that declared it impossible to process the application. According to the Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands (BOIB) published this Tuesday, the CBAT has notified the appeal and has instructed all interested parties, as well as the individuals and entities that had applied for units, to appear before the court within a maximum of nine days. The cancellation of the call for applications occurred after several computer errors prevented the correct processing of applications for tourist rental units. This situation has generated criticism from the sector: the employers' association Habtur described the annulment as "scandalous and unjustified" and questioned why similar problems had not been detected in the management of tourist accommodation units for hotels and listed buildings. The legal appeal now opens a new chapter in the management of tourist rental units in Mallorca, while developers and industry associations continue to demand action. greater transparency and efficiency in the CBAT processes.

Traffic chaos is now part of daily life in Mallorca. And winter and summer are becoming increasingly indistinguishable. The deseasonalization that was so desired for years, along with the progressive purchase of properties by foreigners, has made the difference between high and low season increasingly insignificant: traffic jams are a recurring problem. According to data from the Consell de Mallorca (Mallorca Council), residents own more than 800,000 cars, while 380,000 arrive annually, primarily for tourism. There is a growing consensus on the need to limit vehicle access to Mallorca, as the Pitiusas Islands have done, and the People's Party (PP) in the Consell presented its proposal a year and a half ago. How is it possible that it has not yet been approved?

The Consell de Mallorca has ceded part of the Parc de les Vies, next to the ring road, to the Palma City Council free of charge to locate the future botanical garden of CityThe land ceded has been owned by the island council since 1989 due to a compulsory purchase and, until now, had not been used for any purpose. It measures 13,005 square meters and is bordered by the ring road, the Inca road, the railway tracks, and the Barberà stream. This area of ​​the botanical garden, which will be complemented by another in the Retreat Houses of Bellver CastleThe site will cover 31,543 square meters. The plan is to create a space on the property showcasing examples of the five types of Mediterranean forests found worldwide: those of the Mediterranean basin (typical of southern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East), those of California, those of central Chile, and those of southeastern Austria. Furthermore, the City Council intends to equip the plot with various public facilities, such as an auditorium, departments of the Germplasm Bank, a herbarium, exhibition halls, and offices. However, the transfer agreement formalized this Thursday between the two institutions must be approved at the next plenary session of the Consell (Island Council), and, if approved, a public consultation period will be opened. Beyond the land transfer, the Consell de Mallorca will allow the City Council to use the bridge that crosses the ring road.

The Balearic Islands Tourist Accommodation Association (Habtur) is concerned that vehicle restrictions in Mallorca could create "more problems getting to their accommodations" for tourists staying in holiday rentals, according to the association's manager, Maria Gibert. She described Mallorca's public transport network as "deficient." "Tourists staying in agriturismos need a car to get there because they're in a tourist area or staying in a town that doesn't have good public transport access," she emphasized. She added that "depending on the type of measure" proposed in the regulations, "it could benefit large hotel chains because, in a way, it would draw tourists to the big hotels and would also harm complementary services." In this regard, she explained that "a large hotel can charter a bus to the premises" because "it's in their interest for tourists to spend money there and not go out to eat at a restaurant."

The Paco de Lucía Mallorca Festival, in collaboration with the Paco de Lucía Foundation, has announced the opening of applications for the 3rd Young Talents Grant, a program created to promote emerging artists born or residing in the Balearic Islands and support their international careers. In 2026, to mark the festival's 5th anniversary, the grant is being offered as a special scholarship dedicated to dance, understood from a broad, contemporary, and interdisciplinary perspective, always in dialogue with flamenco, its language, aesthetics, and innovative spirit. The recipient will attend the Commercial Dance Intensive (CDI) at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, an intensive program focused on the technical, artistic, and professional development of dancers in an international environment. The grant covers tuition, round-trip travel, accommodation, meals, and a certificate of completion. The course will take place from July 6 to 25, 2026. Young performers and creators aged 15 to 25, born or residing in the Balearic Islands, with a solid artistic development and clear potential for growth, who are developing proposals related to dance, are eligible to apply for the scholarship. The application period will be open from January 13, 2026 at 7:00 p.m. to February 19, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. The decision will be announced within a maximum of 10 days after the application deadline. Application materials must be sent to the festival director, Soledad Bescós, by email. The complete terms and conditions of the call for applications are available on the festival's website (https://festivalpacodeluciamallorca.com/beca-joves-talents/) and also via the link in the bio of the official Paco de Lucía Mallorca Festival Instagram profile.

A temporary civil servant with the Consell de Mallorca (Island Council of Mallorca) has filed a criminal complaint in the Palma courts against several officials of the island institution and against the company Quirón, whom she accuses of alleged crimes of administrative misconduct and disclosure of secrets within the framework of a disciplinary proceeding opened against her for a supposed conflict of interest. The complaint is directed against Quirón's legal representative, the company itself, the island director of Public Service, the technical secretary of the Presidency – who acted as the investigating officer in the disciplinary proceedings – and the Consell de Mallorca as a legal entity. According to the document, the events date back to April 2024, when the Council initiated disciplinary proceedings against the civil servant, head of the Sports Medicine Service, for alleged breaches of working hours and for simultaneously providing services to both the Council and Quirón without having requested authorization. The plaintiff maintains that the proceedings are arbitrary and selective, alleging that other professionals in the same field have faced similar situations without being sanctioned. One of the central points of the complaint is how, during the investigation, the Administration allegedly obtained specially protected data without consent, such as the employee's work history report and social security contribution record, through the General Treasury of Social Security. The defense argues that this action not only violates data protection regulations but could also have criminal implications. The complaint also alleges the transfer of personal information to Quirón without the affected party's authorization or legal basis. This information allegedly includes a report from a private investigator hired by the Council itself to monitor the civil servant. According to the complaint, the data in this report was used by Quirón to justify the employee's dismissal, and the dismissal letter, according to the defense, reproduces details of the surveillance verbatim.