The issue of how long it can take to start work on building new affordable homes in Mallorca and the Balearics - any homes in fact - was highlighted recently by the news that six town halls had agreed to cede land for the construction of 1,800 homes.
The six - Andratx, Calvia, Felanitx, Palma, Santanyi, Soller - had signed up to the Balearic Government's Build to Rent initiative. Under this scheme, developers will receive rents at affordable prices set by the government for a maximum period of 75 years. One crucial cost element is removed from the equation as the land is ceded for free.
But when the announcement was made, it was stated that work wouldn't start until 2026 at the earliest. Given the urgent need, why will it take so long?
An irony is that the very institutions facilitating construction are the same ones who can delay it - the town halls. It is they who grant the licences. However, planning procedures - and it's been like this for years - are dogged by town halls' lack of technical personnel and by what can be the need to get multi-agency approvals. It can depend on location, but government bodies such as the water resources department have to be consulted.
The government's administrative simplification decree is meant to address this drawn-out procedure, even if it doesn't specifically deal with shortages of technical personnel.
The bureaucracy is one reason for delay. Another also relates to personnel shortage - construction workers. Sandra Verger, manager of the builders association, says that the sector needs more than 5,000 qualified personnel in order to respond to demand. She explains that when companies take on contracts, there is frequently a proviso of a year's delay to start work. This is demand as currently is. The association reckons that 35,000 new homes are needed in the Balearics.
The financial crisis led to a halving of the workforce - 35,000 from what had been 70,000 in 2008. There has been recovery, but there is still a shortfall of some 10,000 compared with sixteen years ago.
Verger points out that the workforce is ageing: 20% are over 55 and only 9% are under 30. And like other sectors, construction is caught in the vicious circle of insularity and inadequate supply of affordable accommodation. The high cost of housing means that workers have to spend a large part of their salaries on rent. "People from other regions or other countries are discouraged from coming to work on the islands."
There is a drive to recruit more young people and more women to the sector and to promote more training. Verger says: "We are trying to convey the message that the construction sector is becoming less hard and more professional. It no longer requires as much physical strength as before." In this regard there has been some success from vocational training programmes for certain technical personnel - "we have more women than men".