In parliament on Wednesday, President Armengol voiced her support for a "pioneering" national law that will provide the legal means "to influence rental prices" in regions such as the Balearic Islands where land is "very limited".
Armengol was responding to the spokesperson for the main opposition party, Toni Costa of the Partido Popular, who highlighted the "very serious housing problem" affecting people on medium and low incomes in the Balearics. House prices, he stated, have "skyrocketed" by 51%, something which he attributed to the "resounding failure of the Balearic government's housing policy".
He maintained that forcing lower prices and raising taxes on empty properties would be "an attack on private property and the freedom of citizens".
The president insisted that state-wide regulation is necessary. Because of the restricted amount of available land in the Balearics, there are very high land prices. "We need to be able to guarantee what the Constitution says about everyone having access to decent housing."