The Balearic Government is considering the purchase of a building in Sa Pobla that a major property owner has sold to a real estate company in Alcudia, Farrutx 2000 S.L.
Opposition party Més have drawn attention to this sale. The building includes 21 apartments, the prices for which were below the cadastral value and much lower than market prices. Of between 103 and 169 square metres, the prices ranged from 70,000 to 130,000 euros.
Més point out that the seller, Promontoria Coliseum Real Estate, is a company listed in the government's register of major property owners. In June 2024, according to Més, it was the company with the most vacant homes - 101 in all. Ferran Rosa of Més says: "Whether or not it has been informed and notified of the intention to sell, as required by law, the government must carry out the purchase and make them available to the public under a social rental scheme. It is inexplicable that, with homes priced at less than €100,000, the purchase by another company has been registered. Either the government has no control over companies' activities or it doesn't want to buy homes to address the housing emergency."
Rosa explains that public authorities have two months to exercise their right to purchase from the moment they are notified of the large landowner's intention to sell, and that the right of redemption can be exercised for the same price and under the same conditions as the actual purchase. In his view, the prices are "ridiculous", adding that offices in the building could easily be converted into residential units.
The housing ministry says it will analyse the case and study whether the building could be purchased through the exercise of the right of first refusal. The ministry maintains it is committed to this type of purchase, indicating that since the start of the current administration, the IBAVI housing agency has acquired 35 homes through this means, which are being incorporated into the public housing stock.