Calls for strict enforcement of building freeze

Baleraric environmental group GOB yesterday called for the building moratorium to also be applied to Palma's metropolitan areas such as Santa María, Puigpunyent, Santa Eugenia and Algaida to prevent further urban sprawl. GOB pointed out that the final draft of the moratorium featured a number of changes from the original model approved last July. GOB says that, for example, multi-family apartment blocks in the centre of the island, have been excluded from the freeze because of the lack of growth in the market over the past few years. But while villages like Esporles, Bunyola, Valldemossa and Marratxí, which have witnessed a high level of construction activity, are included, the above mentioned villages have been excluded and GOB claims that Santa María, Puigpunyent, Santa Eugenia and Algaida, are now witnessing a great deal of construction. GOB is also concerned that with Palma, Marratxí, Calviá and Llucmajor now included in the freeze, there could be a dangerous tendency for constructors to set their sights on the municipalities on the outskirts of Palma which are excluded from the moratorium, therefore fuelling construction booms in Palma's satellite villages.