The Popular Party of the Balearic Islands has intensified its offensive against the central government for the paralysis of the anti-occupation law, while the president of the Consell de Ibiza, Vicent Marí, warns that without legal certainty many owners will not return to rent and that the occupation and non-payment are aggravating the housing crisis on the island.
The Popular Party has registered in the Parliament a Proposition Not of Law (PNL) to urge the president of the Congress of Deputies, the socialist Francina Armengol, to immediately unblock the Proposition of Organic Law against the illegal occupation of homes and premises, approved in the Senate and paralyzed since February 2024.
PP accuses Armengol of “blocking” the protection of property owners
In a press release, the PP spokesman in the Parliament, Sebastià Sagreras, argues that Armengol is blocking a rule that “protects owners and neighbors” and denounces that this situation leaves thousands of citizens unprotected while increasing cases of illegal squatting and ‘inquiokupación’ in the Balearic Islands.
According to the PP, the law promoted in the Senate would make it possible to speed up evictions in a period of up to 24 hours, strengthen criminal sanctions and apply complementary measures such as the prohibition of registering in occupied dwellings and tax benefits for those affected.
“The legitimate effort of families to access housing cannot be violated by squatting and the passivity of those who have the obligation to process the law,” says Sagreras, who insists that the initiative does not question social housing policies, but seeks to protect those who comply with the law.
Marí: “Without clear rules, the small owner will not rent again”.
The PP’s criticisms coincide with the diagnosis expressed by Vicent Marí in interviews published on Sunday in Diario de Ibiza and Periódico de Ibiza y Formentera, in which he directly links the lack of legal security with the withdrawal of homes from the rental market in Ibiza.
“The solution is not only to build more, but also for empty homes or those that disappear from the illegal market to be used again for residential rental. For this, it is essential that there is legal certainty,” says the president of the Consell.
Marí warns that, without clear rules that allow evicting a property in case of occupation or non-payment, many small owners with bad experiences choose not to rent: “If there is no legal framework that prevents them from taking years to recover their property, they will not put it back on the market. Today, we have a lot of empty properties in Ibiza”.
