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Palma.—Central Government Delegate in the Balearics, Ramón Socías has confirmed he will not be giving an official report to Parliament on the recent rioting in the Palma suburb of Son Gotleu, despite a request for him to do so.

The riots had been sparked by the death of a young Nigerian which has since been attributed to an accident rather than community clashes or inadequate policing as was believed at the time.

Time for change
Socias said that although much contradictory material requesting his presence before Parliament had been put forward, the delegation in the Balearics is responsible to the Central rather than regional government and there was no obligation for him to appear. “If the Partido Popular government in the Balearics had wanted to change the policy,” said Socias, “the post-riot period would have been an ideal time to have modified the regional statutes.” Socías claimed that there had been much “hype” surrounding the inquiry into the rioting and plenty of publicity following the visit of Mayor Mateu Isern to a residents' association meeting in Son Gotleu to calm neighbourhood nerves. Socías said that away from the glare of the spolight, he had been to Son Gotleu himself unescorted to attend Socialist party meetings. He claimed that PP members who were demanding he report to Parliament hadn't even visited Son Gotleu.