WEEK IN REVIEW
The stories that made the headlines this week in Mallorca
It has been a week in which the politics have dominated, all the consequence of crisis that engulfed Vox. Not actually members of the Balearic government, their support for Marga Prohens and the Partido Popular is nevertheless crucial. The factionalism that has been clearly on display thus has the potential to undermine a government which is inherently weak on account of being able to rely on only 25 PP deputies in parliament when the house majority is 30.
The reasons for the crisis were various, it having been rumbling in the background for some time before finally surfacing on Monday when five ‘rebels', led by the party's chief parliamentary spokesperson, Idoia Ribas, expelled two party members from the parliamentary group - the party's president in the Balearics, Patricia de las Heras, and the president (speaker) of parliament, Gabriel Le Senne.
Chaos ensued. The national party, to which De las Heras and Le Senne are loyal, moved to expel the rebels from the party, while it looked as if parliament needed a new speaker. This was one charge levelled against the rebels, that they had manoeuvred in order to gain the presidency of parliament. The PP and opposition parties didn't take kindly to this at all, effectively defending Le Senne and agreeing to request legal reports before any decision can be taken regarding his continuing as speaker or not. These reports are due to be made available next week.
Social housing
Allowed to get on with regular political business, the government announced a further measure in a series of initiatives under its housing emergency bill. This in
volves municipal land that hasn't been developed and which is classified either for residential or municipal purposes. The housing ministry has drawn up an inventory of this land in all of the 67 municipalities in the Balearics and will be asking town halls if they wish to cede it to the government. Either classification would permit the building of social housing, the ministry specifically having in mind housing to rent. The scheme is called ‘build to rent'.
On the face of it, this was a good idea, though the minister, Marta Vidal, did rather play down the possibilities. “More than a thousand homes” could be built. A welcome number, but when spread across 67 municipalities it didn't sound a lot.
Bargains - homes with squatters for sale
Although not all cases of squatting can be attributed to the housing emergency, many can be. And where properties have been occupied, it's not just difficult to remove the squatters, as selling these properties is also made problematic. A report quoting the vice-president of the API association of real estate agents in the Balearics was extraordinary in that it pointed to the extent to which the sale of properties with squatters has become formalised. Five out of every 100 homes in Mallorca are said to be put up for sale with squatters living in them. Where banks and other financial entities are concerned, their real-estate divisions are reckoned to have 50%.
It might sound like madness to wish to buy a property that has squatters, but then the prices can be discounted by up to 75% of market value. This will depend on whether or not the eviction process has been initiated.