Two issues of particular interest to the Balearics at the European elections both relate to housing - the possibility of a ban on non-resident home-buying and regulations for holiday rentals.
The establishment of an 'island exception' for the Balearics and indeed other island territories in the EU could well be a theme of the next legislative period. This exception would involve regulatory amendment to introduce restrictions on the purchase of properties by non-residents. For this to prosper, however, a political make-up sympathetic to such an exception would be required, and that is by no means certain.
The right is generally opposed to this, but there is greater political harmony between right and left on the need for tighter control of holiday rentals and of advertising on websites such as Airbnb, something which is already being pursued.
These are the two issues which tend to dominate talk of relations with Brussels, but there is another matter which represents a longstanding grievance and is one on which both right and left can agree. This is the question of insularity.
Ever since the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, it has been felt that the Balearics have been disadvantaged by how the region is classified, or rather isn't classified. The comparison is drawn with the Canary Islands, which is an 'ultraperipheral region'; this doesn't apply to the Balearics.
The distinction is important as it affects aid under EU rules, e.g. the maximum aid to companies under the so-called De Minimis rule. In the case of the Balearics, it is felt that this has meant that real measures to compensate for the disadvantages of insularity have been avoided. These in turn, it is argued, have hindered competitiveness.
Insularity may not be a headline-grabber in the way that home buying and holiday rentals are, but it is a matter of fundamental importance to the Balearics.