All political parties slam Munar´s quota suggestion

All the political parties represented in the Balearic parliament yesterday expressed their disagreement with the controversial proposal by Council of Majorca president Maria Antonia Munar, to set quotas to limit the arrival of new immigrants. Leader Francesc Antich said “the only quotas which the Balearic government can set are on building, which we have been defending for some time.” He added “what we should not do is set quotas on common sense by making immigration a cause for battle because that is not good for anyone. Antich, who is also secretary general of the socialist party in the Balearics, said that the central government was responsible for setting the number of immigrants who will be given residence permits each year, according to the job market, and this is done after consulting the regional governments. Eberhard Grosske, the Balearic minister of labour, was even more outspoken, and said he could not understand this type of proposal, which he described as “simplistic and demagogic.” He claimed that there were no jobless immigrants in the Balearics because local firms needed the labour. What is needed, he said, was that the workers' rights should be respected, they should have contracts and social services to attend their needs.