The Més candidate to be president of the Council of Mallorca, Jaume Alzamora, insists that it is time to stop talking about minimum plots for building on rustic land and to instead apply a total ban.
At present, residential use of rustic land (subject to its classification) is possible if a plot is at least 14,000 square metres. This is for a single house, and the minimum can be increased depending on what protective measures may be in place. In order to build a house on rural land, a declaration of general interest is required by the Council; around 500 permissions are given each year.
At a Thursday press conference, Alzamora stated that "we have a problem in that we have reached unsustainable limits". A ban, he argued, "is a necessary measure", and this would have to included in the Council's territorial plan for Mallorca. The latest version of this plan is close to being approved but it doesn't contemplate a total ban.
Lluís Apesteguia, the Més coordinator and candidate for the presidency of the Balearic government, stressed the need for access to housing at an affordable price. With this in mind, he said that his party will be proposing that town halls are allowed to set limits on prices to rent. This assumes, however, that the Spanish government delegates the relevant powers for this to regional governments.
He referred to the decree law that the Balearic government approved on Tuesday. This will limit the possibility for town halls to give permission for new developments on rural land; the emphasis is on using available urban land and rehabilitating existing buildings. An exception will be made for the building of social housing. Apesteguia believed that there was not a contradiction between limiting development on rural land with measures to create more housing, but added that current home building "does not meet the needs of the population".
Apesteguia reiterated a Més intention to seek to limit the purchase of homes by non-residents.
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Peter PerfectOk, well, you obviously haven't been around here for long. Or you're just tuned into all the negative bullshit that's contrary to reality (spouted primarily by Brits all pissed off about not being treated exceptionally). The fact remains that corruption is at an all time low, infrastructure is as good as it's ever been, and it's all facilitated a dramatic improvement in the overall quality of life here (which was the goal all along)... ...which explains why it's become so incredibly desirable - so desirable in fact, that the most predominant current debate is how to best manage that enormous popularity (and there are both good ideas and really stupid ones emerging from that debate). But to sit around claiming it's all gone to shit is verifiably 180° contrary to reality. What we're faced with now are actually rather good problems to have. It just needs to be managed properly. It's one thing if living in this alternate reality makes you feel better, but don't encourage those tasked with managing it to make bad decisions based on falsehoods. We already know how that turns out.
Morgan WilliamsMaybe, just maybe you should take the time to research some of what you write and you mat be surprised at how much rubbish you spout. Most of the things you say have improved actually haven't made that much of a difference, were done years later than they should, failed miserably after being planned and/or half finished (tram/railways) have been and raised so many questions of corrupt practices (road building to name but one), shopping malls have been refused and opening times after restrictive (as in not on a Sunday). If you think phones and internet are what you need then you need your bumps feeling and they are still stupidly expensive.
Peter PerfectEither you don't (can't) remember, or simply refuse to, but if you look back in history, it might jog your memory. You may not remember when it took an hour and a half to 2 hours to travel from Palma to most of the rest of the island. But now we have well maintained motorways and bus and train services. All of which are pretty highly rated. The airport has been continually improved and now handles many millions of passengers per year with limited disruption (despite the continuous moaning from Brits about queues passport controls, which as a matter of record, happen only occasionally, and are very common in UK airports). You also may not remember that internet service used to cost as much as 70€ per month, while often struggling to deliver 2mb speeds (when it actually works). Today, most of the island has reliable, at least 100mb fibre as a minimum speed. Not to mention that mobile phone service used to be spotty at best, and very expensive. Today, very few spots are without 4G service, and you can get mobile voice and data for as little as 5€ per month. You also may not remember that the only places to shop with any selection or competitive pricing were in Palma. Now there's plenty of choices and selection all over the island at competitive pricing, largely due to greatly improved transport links and overall infrastructure, and that has certainly made Mallorca far more desirable both as a place to live and as a tourist destination. You also may not remember when much of the tourist infrastructure was rather mediocre, many substandard hotels, illegal holiday lets of very poor quality, and holiday letting scams were rife. Today, Mallorca has some of the highest rated tourist infrastructure in Europe. And the scams are *almost* completely eliminated. You also may not remember the days when doing anything official routinely involved a brown envelope full of cash. That's just a handful of the many improvements made just in the past 10-15 years. And it keeps getting better, despite all of the challenges. So, despite the political challenges and the fact that Mallorca has become almost too desirable, it seems a bit naïve to suggest nothing ever gets done. Or perhaps you just haven't been around long enough to know better.
Morgan WilliamsAnd as always your reply makes no sense.
Peter PerfectApparently, you haven't been around long, so you can be forgiven for not having the benefit of historical comparison. Or you're just predisposed to that view, so it doesn't matter whether it's inconsistent with historical record.
Don't worry as this will go the same way as any improvements to the island i.e. the tram, it will never happen as they are neither family or related to the people who actually own Mallorca. Nothing of much use ever gets done if it takes money out of their pockets.
Stan The ManThat's because many types of major construction is prohibited in summer especially in urban areas. Beware though; Aside from the fact that they're from opposite ends of the political spectrum, Més is not entirely unlike the extremist splinter group that brought you Brexit. Like the Brexit bunch, their platform based upon a kind of Balearic "uber nationalist" ideology, dripping in alternate reality, they're anti-progressive, anti-foreigner isolationists seeking a "return" to a rosy tinted version of a nostalgic past (which, in reality isn't a pretty picture at all). Sound familiar? We all know how that worked out for the UK. We can only hope they don't get far.
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