Mayor Antoni Noguera speaking yesterday. | Jaume Morey

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The mayor of Palma, Antoni Noguera, yesterday gave his "state of the capital" speech in which he highlighted the improvements that have been made in culture, transport, the fight against climate change, diversification of the economy and infrastructure.

He began by saying that the new administration came to power having to repair the damage caused by the previous Partido Popular, "which had left the city in crisis, the civil servants downhearted and the general population forgotten". He explained that his roadmap has been and is to reverse all the damage caused by the PP, fight social injustice, unemployment, restore all the various districts and the quality of the environment.

He is also determined to tackle the problem caused by traffic congestion and further promote public transport and alternative forms of transport. "The Balearics has the highest ratio of vehicle per 1,000 people, well above the national average of 630. This has got to change. We, the people, have to change."

Marga Duran, the spokesperson for the PP, turned on Noguera and the administration. She said, for example, that there had never been an administration so hostile towards tourists. "They are so sectarian and 'responsible' that they have tried to blame visitors for the effects of their inability to manage municipal services."

On the Emaya municipal services agency, she stated that it was run by "amateurs" who seem to be "endowed with a moral superiority that is granted, one guesses, by some secular deity". The agency was the "flagship" of the administration's failure.