None of the projects for which Palma town hall had sought tourist tax revenue will be acted on this year. There were fourteen in all with a combined value of almost 14 million euros. All of these were excluded from the revenue spending decisions, which was also the case with projects proposed by all other town halls.
Deputy mayor for the model of the city Antoni Noguera says that investment decisions for the current year have already been made and projects will be funded by the town hall or from what it will get through funding under the "Capitals" law (which isn't as much as the town hall had wanted).
The administration intends presenting the same projects when the call is made for tourist tax revenue proposals for the current year. If they are then still excluded, the administration will look to finance them in other ways. They are all considered to be important and some of them vital in meeting objectives for cultural and natural restoration, for improvements to sustainable tourism services and infrastructure and for boosting employment and the city's economy.
The council meeting on Thursday gave unanimous backing to a motion raised by Ciudadanos that calls on the regional government to allocate a fixed amount of the tax that is collected: the figure proposed was 50%. The tourism councillor, Joana Maria Adrover, has asked the government to let the town hall know where the tax revenue comes from. The information should be available within two months, "and then we will claim the exact percentage that corresponds to the city".
The Partido Popular's Álvaro Gijón criticised the role of the administration, which had been ignored by the government. This was a "scandal". Adrover said that the town hall had strongly stated its case for tax funding and has now registered its dissatisfaction with the spending decisions.
Although none of the town hall's own projects were accepted, Adrover noted that five which had been presented by the government or the Council of Majorca are in Palma.