EDITORIAL

IT was a nice idea that failed. The four years of coalition local government ended in dramatic style early yesterday with the right-wing Partido Popular sweeping to victory. The coalition was shattered. Born four years ago the grouping of socialists and nationalists was meant to herald a new era in Majorca. They would be tough on development, they would protect Balearic culture and language and they would try to contain tourism. It was an anti-Partido Popular pact which brought to an end 16 years of Partido Popular rule. But on Sunday night it all ended and the Partido Popular were back and the coalition were left wondering where it all went wrong. Also, the local elections could not have come at a worse time for the conservatives. They were under fire for their support of the war on Iraq and the fiasco involving the tanker Prestige off the coast of Galicia. Just days earlier Spanish citizens had been the victims of international terrorism in Casablanca and the opposition blamed the PP government for putting Spaniards at risk with their support for the U.S. and Britain. I think you can safely say that the coalition were confident they would be returned to power. They accepted the Partido Popular would win but they also believed that they would not get a majority and the coalition would be back in power again. When you saw the thousands of people who marched through the streets of Palma shouting anti-government slogans over Iraq it was easy to think that the PP was heading for a bruising at the pollss. There was a great deal of anti-Partido Popular sentiment and everyone you met was critical.

So how come they won by a landslide when everything appeared to be against them?
When Margaret Thatcher during the 1980s was winning enormous majorities I always found it strange that despite her landslide victories you never actually met anyone who said they voted Conservative. In other words voting for the Tories when unemployment in Britain was running at three million was not exactly socially acceptable in most quarters. But the “Iron Lady” still won. A similar state of affairs has happened in the Balearics. An estimated 180'000 people voted for the Partido Popular across the islands and to this day I have yet to meet anyone who openly said they supported the Partido Popular although a few were coming out of the woodwork yesterday.

So what does this change in government mean for the Balearics?
Basically it will mean a return of more hardline policies on language. The fact that the tourist tax will be scrapped is good news and will broadcast the right message to Britain and Germany. Tourists are welcome again is how some people will look at it. The one euro surcharge was like the coalition... a nice idea as long as you didn't have to pay it. I have made my views on the tax very clear in this paper over the last few years. The principle was alright but the way it was introduced was a complete nightmare. In otherwords the coalition were a public relations disaster.

Their rhetoric was often confused and the message it sent to Britain but principally Germany was that the Balearics were getting bored with tourism. This election was not fought over the Iraq war, the Prestige or even the bomb in Casablanca in the case of the Balearics it was fought over tourism. The fact that there are more For Sale signs on shops and businesses across Palma than ever before was a telling sign that the economy was not working. The fact that tourism was in decline had nothing to do with Saddam or Bin Laden it had more to do with the economic situation in Germany and the fallout from the tourist tax.

So what can we hope for from the Partido Popular?
Not a lot (although they are very grateful that it appears that the majority of the foreign community voted for them). Palma will continue to have its problems, the local government will continue to battle to maintain the balance between development and conservation and your rates will continue to remain high because the last thing a new council or government is going to do is introduce a spending freeze. What is good though is that the Partido Popular have learnt their lesson. They cannot always rely on the people of the Balearics to vote for them, they were removed from office four years ago. The new leader, Jaume Matas, will remember that his party are not invincible. I feel slightly sorry for former Balearic leader, Francesc Antich, and I am glad to see that his socialist party actually increased their share of the vote.

I am not sad, however, to see that the nationalist vote fell. It is not right for Majorca, being the holiday paradise that it is with such a large non-Spanish community, to talk about Majorca for the Majorcans.

Is it a new dawn for the Balearics?
No, it is just the continuation of a government which took four years off to hopefully get their act together.