The Palma city council will allow new hotels to open in Palma reversing a decision by the previous administration and prompting calls from opposition groups that they wanted yet more tourists in the city. In an unusual move the council announced that small hotels, of up to 50 places, could be opened in protected buildings.
The opposition, especially the Mallorca Nationalists at Mes, slammed the move saying that it would lead to an even greater number of tourists in the city. The move was announced by the ruling Partido Popular with the support of the far right Vox party.
According to Mes the move will lead to more boutique hotels and agrotourism. The previous socialist-led Balearic government with the support of the city council, then also under socialist rule, introduced the freeze in an effort to limit tourist numbers. It received a mixed response. Now it appears that the new council have started to row back on this decision and the move by the city council will be eagerly watched in other areas of the island.
Vox said that they didn't understand all the fuss which was being made by the opposition because the move would give a good use to protected buildings which otherwise would be redundant.