The mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez, announced on Friday that the town hall will be facilitating the building of 1,200 homes for social housing.
These will be on eight plots in various parts of the city, the mayor explaining that the tender for the building of these homes will be issued as soon as possible. "It will take advantage of the housing emergency decree, which allows for an increase in construction density."
Martínez added: "The drafting of the specifications is coming to an end. The idea is that each plot will have its own characteristics and its percentage to rent at a limited price." (The Balearic government's decree has established the concept of limited-price housing.).
The homes will be managed and maintained by developers and building companies for a period of 75 years, the mayor stressing that the sale of these homes to private entities is not being contemplated. "These properties will become part of the municipal assets." Martínez said that the aim is that all these homes will be available by 2027, i.e. when the current period of office ends.
Palma's municipal housing trust currently has 398 homes.
The opposition parties at the town hall - PSOE, Més, Podemos - responded to the mayor's announcement by saying that they will denounce his party (the Partido Popular) to the Electoral Board. Francisco Ducrós of PSOE said: "Martínez has not been able to say where they want to build, when or for whom the homes are intended, or even what the price of these homes will be. It is an electoral announcement in the middle of the European election campaign."