Two years in power... not much to celebrate

The Balearic government yesterday celebrated two years in government, however, the celebrations were overshadowed by the central government announcement that it intends to lodge an appeal against the tourist tax on the grounds that it is unconstitutional. Quite simply, the introduction of the tourist tax will have to be postponed until the appeal has run its course and that could take up to six years. The highly controversial tourist tax which, apart from members of the left wing local government, has few supporters, was one of the landmark policies of the Balearic government. Balearic President Francesc Antich lashed out at the news, slamming central government and the ruling Partido Popular as “rancid”. The Balearic government approved the tourist tax in April, but many members of the local and international tourist industry doubted that the tax would ever see the light of day.