The Balearic government's administrative simplification decree, and in particular the possibility of legalising properties that were built on rustic land, could be ruled unconstitutional.
The Spanish government's minister for territorial policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, has advised the Balearic government that regulation of the type envisaged cannot be made using the decree law mechanism. After speaking with the Spanish government's delegate in the Balearics, Alfonso Rodríguez, Torres said that "it has the appearance of unconstitutionality".
Torres explained that the central government had previously informed Marga Prohens and her government of its opinion regarding this decree. "We will now have to sit down and talk," he added. If the Balearic government refuses to withdraw the decree, the matter will be referred to the Constitutional Court. Once an appeal is filed with this court, the relevant legislation is automatically suspended until a ruling is given.
Differences of this kind do crop up from time to time. The usual procedure is to try and resolve the differences through a bilateral committee (representatives of central and regional governments). If this isn't possible, the Constitutional Court gets involved.
On Tuesday, the environmentalists GOB called on Prime Minister Sánchez to appeal the decree to the court. They argue, among other things, that there was no justification for decree law to have been used in this instance. It is only supposed to be for urgent cases. "There was no urgency to legalise constructions on rustic land that only respond to private interests."