Cort's budget surpasses initial approval thanks to Vox's support

PalmThe Palma City Council has given initial approval to the 2026 budget, totaling nearly €624 million (2.25% more than this year), incorporating only the amendments proposed by the People's Party (PP) due to errors or technical issues. The full council meeting on Tuesday rejected the amendments to the entire budget and the more than 150 partial amendments submitted by Unides Podem, MÁS per Palma, and the Socialist Party (PSOE). The budget passed thanks to the votes of the PP and Vox. Municipal spokesperson Mercedes Celeste highlighted that, with this budget, the second phase of the reduction in the municipal capital gains tax will come into effect on January 1, 2026, bringing the rate down to 18%. The reduction in the construction tax, which began in November and allows for a 50% deduction of fees paid for building permits, will also be consolidated. The Infrastructure budget will increase by 52.2%, with investments in projects such as the Palma fairgrounds and the rehabilitation of the Gesa building, among others. In Education, the City Council plans to purchase two nurseries in the Bishopric and fulfill commitments made to workers in indirectly managed centers to improve their working conditions. In Mobility, some actions will include the reinstatement of EMT bus routes and service disruptions and the purchase of electric buses.

From the opposition, the spokesperson for Unides Podemos, Lucía Muñoz, stated that the municipal budgets are "a regressive project agreed upon by the PP and Vox." According to the spokesperson for MÉS per Palma, Neus Truyol, the budgets clearly demonstrate that the PP and Vox have "a stable, consolidated, and absolutely reactionary alliance." "It's not a project for the city but for business," she added, also criticizing the fact that the budgets were drawn up "behind the backs of the working class." The PSOE spokesperson, Xisco Ducrós, criticized the inclusion of projects that will never be carried out and the reduction of municipal revenues by lowering taxes "for those who have the most." "They only come up with harebrained schemes, but they don't solve anything because they don't take measures to reduce overcrowding, they don't address the housing problem, mobility issues, or the climate emergency," he said.

The opposition criticizes the PP's "incompetence" with Palma's budget: "They leave less than two hours to review the project."