Maria Salom is the new delegate to the Balearics.

Maria Salom is the new delegate to the Balearics. | Joan Torres

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma18/11/2016 00:00
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Maria Salom, the former president of the Council of Majorca, is to be the new national government delegate in the Balearics. The position has been vacant since last year, when Teresa Palmer resigned in order to stand for election to Congress for the Partido Popular. Mabel Cabrer, who was parliamentary spokesperson for the PP during the government of José Ramón Bauzá, will replace her in parliament.

Pilar Costa, the current government's spokesperson, said today that she was confident that Salom will defend the interests of the people of the Balearics. She congratulated her on her appointment and added that she looked forward to maintaining contact and institutional cooperation. A key issue in this cooperation will be Balearic government demands for an improvement to the system of financing, compensation for the effects of insularity and a new special economic regime.

A PSOE colleague of Pilar Costa, the Congress deputy Pere Joan Pons, was critical of the appointment. Salom, he said, represented a continuance of Mariano Rajoy's policies and, as far he was concerned, she "has never defended the interests of the Balearics in Madrid; quite the contrary".

Salom herself declared that she would work for Spain and for the Balearics and with "common sense". She added that she was facing the challenge as "a new stage" and that her appointment was a "return to normality" after so much time when the national government had been operating in an acting capacity and when there hadn't been a delegate in the Balearics. She stressed that she will work hard to make the islands very safe and will do so thanks to Spain having "extraordinary security forces".

Salom was the second vice-president (second deputy speaker) in the Balearic parliament. The speaker herself, Xelo Huertas, said she was "surprised" at Salom's appointment.