The plenary session of the Balearic Parliament, scheduled for this Tuesday, will not vote on the administrative simplification decree law, which includes the urban amnestyFollowing a request from the groups PSIB, Més per Mallorca, Més per Menorca and Unidas Podemos, who are seeking a consensus with the Government to avoid construction in areas at risk of flooding. The decree in question, which incorporated 73 amendments already accepted and left another 490 on hold, has been criticized by the left-wing groups, who consider the proposal of the Balearic Executive as “ineffective and insufficient”. To negotiate, they demand to exclude from the opinion of the decree the urban amnesty in rustic land of the buildings that are in potentially floodable places, and that it does not allow to classify new land for development in these zones. They also ask that the Government be predisposed to deal with the total prohibition of new constructions, including public facilities, and changes of use from commercial premises to housing in areas at risk of flooding. For its part, the Popular Party (PP) has accepted the postponement on the condition of reaching an agreement. “Consensus needs political will and time, the PP has political will and if the left wants time, it will have it, then it will be seen if the left has the political will to reach an important agreement but the Govern agrees to give that time,” said Marga Durán, deputy spokeswoman for the PP. As for the differences that will be the subject of discussion, Durán mentioned three points to which they are “open”, such as prohibiting building in flood zones, extending this limitation to “sensitive” infrastructures such as schools or health centers, or preventing the legalization of constructions on rustic land located in flood zones. “Everything that affects flood zones is on the table, if the PP and the Govern agree to modify the agenda is because they want to work with the least possible distortions so as not to jeopardize a political agreement that the citizens are asking for,” said the deputy spokeswoman.
Meanwhile, Vox, through its spokesperson Manuela Cañadas, supported the position of preventing construction in these areas, although it made clear its rejection of the articles related to climate change, included in the decree. “We are not for Agenda 2030, we do not believe in any of this,” stressed Cañadas.
A window of time to negotiate
Despite the postponement, the groups will take advantage of Tuesday’s session to ask President Marga Prohens and the Councilor of the Presidency Antònia Maria Estrellas about actions to prevent urban development in areas at high risk of flooding. The search for a consensus in this regard has become a priority issue, especially after recent natural disasters in other regions, such as the DANA in Valenciawhich highlighted the need for greater predictability when it comes to building in vulnerable areas. This postponement of the vote gives the Govern and the opposition groups an additional window of time to review and adjust the decree, in search of a text that represents a balance between administrative simplification and protection of the Balearic territory.
