Growing fears about the impact of building freeze

The Confederation of Balearic Business Associations (CAEB) has lodged an appeal against the Insular Council of Majorca's building freeze. In light of the present economic climate, the Confederation believes that a further crackdown on building licences will have a “serious impact” on the construction industry and all its auxiliary industries. The Confederation fears that the direct losses incurred by the building companies will lead to the eventual closure of businesses and the loss of jobs. The Confederation hopes to at least prevent the Insular Council from giving the new freeze its final approval and buy enough time to introduce a number of modifications to the moratorium in order to ease the negative effects the freeze will have on an industry which is already experiencing a down turn in activity in the Balearics. A CAEB source said yesterday that any further damage to the construction industry under the present situation will take a long time to repair.