The private medical school obtains land rezoning and authorization in record time: 9 days.

PalmThe private faculty promoted by the Catholic Foundation CEU San Pablo has achieved the reclassification of the land of the former Riskal, on Antonia Martínez Fiol Street in Palma, in just 9 days (two of which were weekends). The publication in the Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands (BOIB) of the agreement of the Governing Council of September 25 confirms the impressive speed with which the promoters of this training center have obtained not only the change of use of the land, but also the full authorization to carry out the faculty where the degrees in Medicine, Nursing, and Nursing will be taught.

On September 5, the Government approved the Decree Law to accelerate strategic projects, which came into effect the day after its publication in the BOIB (Bolivian Official Gazette), on the 7th. Therefore, in principle, until that day it was impossible to know the requirements set by the Executive for a project to be declared a Project of Special Strategic Interest (PEIE) and, therefore, to expedite all bureaucratic procedures. But in this case, just one week after the publication of the accelerating regulation, the San Pablo CEU University Foundation had already fully prepared the project and adapted it to the new regulations. Thus, on September 16, the Catholic foundation asked the Government to declare the Beato Luis Belda University Center a strategic project.

What is also surprising is that only a few days later, on September 22, the Regional Ministry of Economy, Finance and Innovation, which is the body that validates the projects that can be accelerated, had already received the communication and documentation and in just three days was able to prepare all the reports and resolutions to decree the requeriment approval at the Governing Council on September 25, which took place in Formentera.

With this strategic project declaration, the uses of the Riskal plot are modified, and Palma City Council is notified of the decision. Although Palma's General Plan does not permit these uses in the area, the City Council cannot object because the decree-law grants the government the power to modify urban planning regulations without municipalities being able to prevent it. The decree-law that authorized the entire operation, carried out in record time, must be validated this Tuesday in Parliament.

Purchase of the building months before

Although the details and formulas for achieving rapid land rezoning were unknown until September 6, when the Decree Law to accelerate strategic projects was approved, CEU San Pablo University announced months earlier, in July, that it had acquired the Riskal building in Palma to establish its first university campus. According to the official statement published on July 8, 2025, the foundation estimated the transaction at approximately €40 million, including the renovation and adaptation of the building. The renovation will be carried out in two phases, according to the developers, and will not entail any additional urban planning impact, as the existing infrastructure will be reused.

According to the Government report accompanying the authorization for the private Faculty of Medicine, this faculty, which has now been declared a strategic project, "aims to make a decisive contribution to improving university enrollment rates in the Balearic Islands." Furthermore, the same document says, "the project aims to contribute decisively to increasing university enrolment rates in the Balearic Islands", since according to the report University data and figures from the Spanish University System, published by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities in January 2025, the net university enrolment rate in the Balearic Islands is only 10.3%, the lowest in the entire country and far from the Spanish average, which reaches 30.4%.

This deficit, according to the Executive, "is also reflected in the limited educational offerings in the Archipelago." According to the report Financing university education in Spain (Fundación 1º de Mayo, CCOO), almost 48% of Balearic university students study outside the islands. This means that, "compared to the approximately 11,736 undergraduate students enrolled at the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB), there is an equivalent number of young people who must travel to the Peninsula to pursue their degrees," the Government states.

According to the Executive, the project should contribute to avoiding "the constant flight of young talent, with the risk that many students will not return to the Balearic Islands after completing their studies, which makes it difficult for qualified professionals to establish themselves in the territory."