Demand for Real Mallorca sponsorship to be through "public tender"

Following hours of argument on Thursday, the three ruling parties at the Council came to an agreement that saved the coalition from collapsing. Més had threatened to walk away if naming rights - Visit Mallorca - for the club's stadium went ahead. Podemos didn't make such a threat, although they were also opposed to the naming rights, an arrangement that had been dealt with by the Council's president and tourism councillor, Catalina Cladera and Andreu Serra.

A "red line" to emerge from the negotiations is that there should be this tender, a new "legal formula to maintain the commitment" made to the club - 750,000 euros in the case of the Council of Mallorca. The general secretary of Més and the party's candidate for the presidency of the Council at next May's elections, Jaume Alzamora, says that this tender should be open to any entity who wishes to "present itself". A name for the Son Moix Stadium, it was agreed, will be one linked to island "social and sporting values".

Alzamora adds that "Mallorca will have the chance to receive a greater amount than a club like the one in Arta, which is where I am from; it is logical that it should be like this". "We are not against financially supporting Mallorca, as we do this with many private organisations, such as theatre companies."

He insists that there isn't an issue with the other sources of financing the naming rights. The deal was meant to have been 1,815,000 euros over two years, with the Balearic government and Palma town hall providing the rest. Alzamora explains that there was no document guaranteeing that the government and town hall should have to pay their respective amounts, as the deal with the club had been proposed by the Council's tourism foundation and hadn't been signed by the government or town hall.

The leader of the opposition at the Council, Llorenç Galmés of the Partido Popular, says that the three parties "have made fools of themselves" and have only been interested in keeping the coalition together. "Cladera approved the sponsorship, then defended it, but at the last moment yielded to pressure from the pact's minority and totally tourismphobic partners. They have discredited the institution and have contributed to people believing less and less in politicians."