Jason MoorePalma20/04/2018 00:00
TW
2

For the benefit of those who live on Mars, the Balearics is ruled by a rainbow coalition of parties. It hasn't been a match made in heaven and the coalition has looked rather shaky. When it was first formed, the grouping of socialists, Majorcan nationalists and hardline socialists looked as if it would last about a day. But they are still in power despite plenty of scandals. One of the reasons why the coalition government of Francina Armengol has survived is because the opposition has been poor. Very poor. In fact, it has failed rather miserably to bring the government to account. The opposition, the centre-right Partido Popular, have their own fair share of problems with plenty of internal differences. But you could say that they have gone to sleep over the last three years. So much so that many have doubted that there was an opposition.

The Partido Popular were the overall winner in the last local elections three years ago, but they didn't have enough support to form a government. So they went into opposition. But you wouldn't really know it. They have done little on important issues such as the tourist tax or the latest legislation on holiday rentals. They have come up with no new ideas either. Now, you can expect them to come on strong in time for the next local elections but it will probably be too late. It isn't a question of being in government or nothing else. There is an important role to play while you are in opposition.