The rupture at the town hall has been sparked by the UMP's line on property tax. Its councillor, Andres Nevado, refused to go along with the proposal for a progressive system of tax by which hotels (and other commercial businesses) would have faced higher tax rates. This proposal had been one promoted by the Alternativa per Pollença, which operates in Pollensa in much the same way as Podemos does with the regional government. It isn't formally part of the administration but does influence policy insofar as its two votes are needed to give majority decisions.
The administration of Junts and UMP has only seven councillors - two short of a majority. The main option for March would be to invite the Alternativa to join the administration. However, Nevado has said that he will resign if the Alternativa comes into the administration. Junts and the Alternativa would, in this scenario, have eight councillors, while a UMP alliance with opposition parties would have nine. It is not inconceivable, therefore, that this group of nine could force a vote of no confidence and oust March.
There has also been growing hostility between the UMP and the Alternativa stemming from the semi-pedestrianisation project in Puerto Pollensa. The Alternativa has opposed this, arguing all along that it has to be full pedestrianisation, as envisaged under a municipal general plan of the early 1990s.
While the UMP is non-ideological, it has taken a clear stance in favour of business, something that has brought it into conflict with the Junts and the Alternativa. The property tax row brought this to a head, and the resultant spats on social media have led the Alternativa to rename the UMP Unió Hotelera Pollencina.
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