Podemos are proposing a series of measures for tackling problems with access to housing in Mallorca and the rest of the Balearics.
Representatives of the party at the councils of Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza are to present a motion that will include a requirement of at least two years' residency in the Balearics before being able to purchase a home.
Aurora Ribot, who is vice-president of the Council of Mallorca as well as being the Podemos spokesperson, says that there are exorbitant prices for homes because of purchase for non-residential use. Properties are only used for a few weeks a year and otherwise remain empty. Meanwhile, the people of the islands, who are resident, do not have access to decent housing.
Cristina Gómez of Podemos in Menorca points out that there are some 50,000 dwellings in total on the island and that only 30,000 are for residential use in that they are lived in all-year round. Five thousand are empty, while the rest are either second homes or for holiday rent.
The Podemos motion, if it prospers at the individual councils, is directed at the Spanish government and for it to legislate. The party's view is that there is a "structural problem" with housing in the Balearics that is being aggravated year after year. Podemos highlight property speculation and the pressure that tourism exerts over housing. This isn't just because of holiday rentals, as there are also the second homes which are occupied for only a certain period of time each year.
The Balearic government estimate of the number of empty homes on the islands is 71,000. There are also around 9,000 large property owners, classified as ones with ten or more properties. Podemos want this classification to be reduced to five or more properties so that more owners are covered by Balearic housing legislation, which presses large owners to cede empty properties to the government for social renting over a set number of years.