Soria said that the regional authorities have the rights to do all they can to try and stop the prospecting, but hinted that they will find themselves facing a very hard battle considering the original permits were granted by the previous Socialist government under a royal decree.
Here in the Balearics, there has been widespread opposition voiced to oil and gas prospecting in local waters with captains of industry, the tourist sector and the Balearic government all backing the campaign to stop the project.
The Balearic President, Jose Ramon Bauza, was in Madrid on Monday and warned central government that he is prepared to take legal action to stop the prospecting.
However, it appears that his Partido Popular colleagues and party superiors in Madrid are not listening to Bauza.
Soria said yesterday that he fully understands that Bauza wants to defend the best interests of the Balearics, "but central government has a responsibility for considering and acting in the interests of the country as a whole."
Yachting protest
Those in support of prospecting have sighted the number of jobs a potential new oil and gas industry would create, never mind the income it would generate and that, in the case of oil being struck, the price of fuel could be reduced because Spain is currently highly dependent on imported liquid fuel.
Another protest is going to be held later this month on 20 March at Arenal Yacht Club to coincide with a conference on the "route of the sea mammals".
The yachting industry is going to voice its opposition to the projects because of the environmental damage they fear prospecting will cause and the harm rigs in Balearic waters would do to the charter industry.
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