Delays in processing building permits at Palma City Hall are not related to planning or urban development control issues, but rather to recurring administrative errors. This was detailed on Tuesday by Palma's Councilor for Urban Planning, Óscar Fidalgo, based on an internal technical analysis to identify the main administrative bottlenecks and try to reduce problems and streamline procedures, he reported. The City Council's internal analysis points to documentary errors such as duplicate reports and the existence of procedures that added no value and slowed down the process. According to the analysis, files were found to be blocked due to issues with fee payments, applications with incomplete documentation, and errors stemming from regulatory complexity. It also points to an excess of sector-specific reports issued systematically, even when not necessary, which contributed to extending deadlines. Fidalgo has assured that the City Council is already working to correct these dysfunctions with the aim of improving service efficiency and ensuring a more agile and effective process for citizens and professionals. In response to this assessment, the Urban Planning Department has implemented a series of organizational and procedural measures to boost administrative efficiency. Regarding issues with fees, action has been taken to prevent non-payment from blocking the start of processing, thus eliminating delays. Document review has also been reorganized to anticipate errors and clarify internal workflows, with particular attention to incomplete applications. This improvement in early detection has led to an 18 percent reduction in incidents analyzed due to incomplete documentation, according to sources at the City Council.

From now on, it will be possible to submit a self-declaration for construction projects to obtain building permits in Palma. The Palma City Council (Cort) implemented this measure to reduce procedures "from months to days," as explained this Thursday by the Councilor for Urban Planning, Housing, and Strategic Projects, Óscar Fidalgo, at the press conference following the Urban Planning Department meeting. According to Europa Press, Fidalgo assured that this initiative will not eliminate urban planning controls, but rather will eliminate redundancies. This measure primarily affects permits for new construction and major works, since most renovations can already be carried out with a self-declaration—those that do not affect essential structures or parameters. Fidalgo emphasized that the responsible declaration will allow for a significant reduction, from months to days, in the timeframes for starting construction on urban development projects. He also reminded everyone that, before reaching this stage of the process, the basic project, which defines parameters such as land use (e.g., residential), must be submitted. In contrast, the detailed construction project "does not redefine the urban planning regulations authorized in the basic project." Although the Urban Planning Law does not provide for specific controls on the detailed construction project, the Palma City Council did carry them out. The councilor stated that this resulted in a "duplication" of the controls already performed at the first stage of the process and added an average of two months before construction could begin. In any case, the responsible declaration will only apply when the detailed construction project matches the authorized basic project. If changes are introduced that affect essential planning parameters, a modification of the license will be necessary. "Palma is not eliminating urban planning controls, but rather a procedure that is not related to urban planning in nature," Fidalgo added. The councilor clarified that not all procedures depend on the municipal administration, such as everything related to water resources, and appealed for these issues not to hinder the processing of licenses. Collaborative urban planning entities are already processing projects.

On the other hand, Fidalgo pointed out that the Urban Planning Collaborative Entities (ECUs) have been working in Palma for over a year. "There are already projects being processed with ECUs at the Palma City Council, although they are almost experimental projects," he said, adding that the ECU staff will need to be trained "so that they thoroughly understand the specific workings in Palma." Regarding the hundred or so positions that remain to be filled in the Urban Planning Department, the councilor guaranteed that the governing team will do "everything possible" to find employees, and stressed that they need to have "sufficient persuasive power" to attract architects and engineers "with the intention of staying."

]]>