The president of the Balearic Government, Marga Prohenshas urged the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to make public land available throughout the country, with special attention to the Balearic Islands, to alleviate the housing crisis affecting the archipelago. During his speech at the Conference of Presidents held in Santander, Prohens stressed that the lack of access to housing is “the main problem” of the region, where there are between 60,000 and 70,000 empty homes.
“I have urged the president to move from announcements to projects, to work in coordination with the autonomous communities, and I have asked him for the transfer of public land, especially in fragile and limited territories such as the Balearic Islands,” he said. In addition, Prohens proposed repealing the state housing law, arguing that its ineffectiveness has been demonstrated, and proposed reforming the Urban Leases Law to encourage long-term rentals. “The problem is not solved with expropriations to large tenants, which in the Balearic Islands have turned out to be minimal, nor with the criminalization of tourist rentals, a necessary complement for many families,” he said.
Prohens’ concrete proposals on housing:
- Transfer of state-owned public land for housing projects.
- Repeal of the state housing law due to its ineffectiveness.
- Incentives for long-term rentals through the reform of the Urban Leasing Law.
- Security measures for homeowners, including the unblocking of the anti-kickback law.
- Coordination between autonomous communities and the State to address the housing crisis.
Recruitment of healthcare workers and uncertainty about Muface
Prohens took advantage of his speech to highlight the difficulties of the Balearic Islands, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera to attract health personnel. He applauded the results of the decree that introduces bonuses that are difficult to cover and asked for the collaboration of the Government to extend these measures. In addition, she called for the adoption of mechanisms to ensure that there are no vacancies in the MIR calls. Regarding Muface, the president warned about the consequences of the possible disappearance of the mutual insurance company for civil servants. “In the Balearic Islands, this could mean the incorporation of more than 15,000 civil servants into an already stressed healthcare system,” she warned.
No willingness to engage in dialogue
The president of the Govern, Marga Prohens, has lamented the “null will” of “agreement and dialogue” of the Government of Spain, in which there has been “a succession of monologues of the presidents without response”. “Both in substance and in form it has seemed that the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, what he wanted was to fulfill the formality and the file,” criticized Prohens during an appearance before the media at the end of the Conference of Presidents, held in Santander. Thus, he has made a “poor” assessment of the outcome of the Conference of Presidents, also considering that Sanchez has not specified timetables or figures. “He has convened this Conference of Presidents undoubtedly with little desire and forced by the appeals before the Supreme Court that we have presented,” said the Balearic president. “We have entered with a blank sheet of paper and we leave with a blank sheet of paper,” she said, while noting that “agreements could have been reached” but that there has not been on the part of the Government “not even the gesture or the will” to promote these agreements. He also hoped that this Conference of Presidents would be a “turning point” and that it would be convened regularly, arguing that the current challenges “require institutional collaboration”.
