Palma town hall is to spend 5.8 million euros in 2017 on improving the employment prospects of the city's most vulnerable groups. The PalmaActiva jobs department will be working with the Balearic employment service and the youth guarantee fund in finding jobs for the young and others. PalmaActiva has, since the current administration took office, so far given a second opportunity - in the form of training and employment - to more than 300 people.
This is just one of the budgeted items for 2017. The overall budget for the tourism, trade and employment department is to go up by more than five per cent to almost 6.2 million euros. The highest spend will be that of over 136 million for the Emaya municipal services agency, which looks after, among other things, the city's water and its street cleaning. This budget is being increased by 24 million.
The economic affairs, finance and innovation department will have just under 80 million. This department is the one that deals with tax and, as had been previously announced, there will be a freeze on property tax in 2017, except for large commercial centres.
The public safety department, which includes police and firefighting, will have a 4.5% increase to slightly less than 74 million. Of this, some 340,000 euros will go on new uniforms for fire crews. More police officers are due to be taken on, and there will be a spend of 150,000 euros on vehicles.
A further jobs' development in the city is that seventy-five long-term unemployed have been taken on under a scheme known as Palma Visibles, which seeks to improve the employability of older workers, in particular those affected by economic crisis.
Work that they will be undertaking includes cleaning at the Gesa building and public information campaigns as to best practice in order to reduce dog mess, junk in the streets and the number of badly parked cars.
The Visibles scheme is designed to facilitate the employment of the over-35s who have been out of work for at least a year and been left without any benefit. Its objectives, in addition to increasing employment opportunities, include providing work of general and social interest in order to improve the image of the city.
Of the 75 workers taken on, 90% are over the age of 45. Their contracts are for six months.