The Council shields the use of official cars after the controversy with Pedro Bestard

PalmaThe Consell de Mallorca has approved a protocol regarding the use of official cars after the controversy experienced in recent months. A law that seems tailor-made for all the complaints and grievances regarding the use that "was made of the second vice-president of the Mallorca Council, Pedro Bestard, of these vehicles. The protocol arrives the same day that it has been made public the PSIB's complaint to the Prosecutor's Office following the actions of Vox, whom he accuses of "continued embezzlement of public funds, prevarication, and document forgery".

The new protocol establishes very clear rules with the sole objective of preventing these vehicles from being used for private purposes. In this way, the internal regulations determine, first of all, that it is "applicable to all civil servants, employees, temporary staff, and management of the Consell de Mallorca", nevertheless, they emphasize that it does not affect official vehicles with drivers, as they are regulated by their own rules.

Similarly, it establishes that the vehicles must be labeled with the official logos of the Consell de Mallorca and the autonomous bodies dependent on it. This was already a controversial issue after it was discovered that 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. "Reserve this car for me," they confirm Bestard said.

The regulations also stipulate that each service or department must designate a person responsible for the assignment of vehicles, as well as a person responsible for the custody of vehicle keys and a pick-up and return point. In order to prevent a person or employee from having more than one car or having exclusive use of one, a fact for which Bestar's handling of these vehicles was also denounced, the protocol establishes that each time an employee wishes to use an official car, they must fill out a form available through the intranet of the Consell de Mallorca with a minimum advance notice of 24 hours and a maximum of 5 days.

Regarding the return of the vehicle, the new regulation from the Insular Council determines that it must be returned to the pick-up location and the user must sign and indicate the time and accumulated kilometers before and after the trip. Furthermore, the instruction orders that vehicles must spend the night in the parking lots of the facilities and buildings to which they are assigned. Only in exceptional cases, with prior justification and authorization, can the vehicle spend the night in a different location. This rule prevents officials and employees of the Consell de Mallorca from taking cars home and others being unable to use them.

Finally, the protocol establishes that vehicles can only be used for service reasons, never for personal matters. Additionally, it determines that persons not related to the service cannot be transported, unless the nature of their duties so requires.

During the presentation of the new regulations, the Minister of Finance, Innovation and Public Function, Rafel Bosch, highlighted that "with this instruction, control mechanisms are improved and transparency is reinforced to ensure proper use of public cars". In fact, he remarked that the protocol will allow "to respond to a legal loophole that existed until today".