In her speech for the Balearics general policy debate, President Marga Prohens told the Balearic Parliament on Tuesday that the islands "cannot assume unlimited population growth". She advocated change in order to curb growth that has resulted in an increase of almost 50% over the past thirty years.
"We cannot plan tomorrow's infrastructure and services thinking that, by the time we achieve them, they will already be insufficient. We are a fragile and finite territory, and we must change this pattern. With the same courage with which I said that we had reached the limit in the number of visitors to our islands during the summer, or that we had reached the limit in the arrival of irregular migrants, I am now opening up this issue and bringing it to parliament."
Prohens argued that a new strategy must be implemented in order to prevent the forecast growth of up to 250,000 more inhabitants over the coming years and to ensure the protection of the islands' identity and culture The president insisted that the demographic challenge is urgent.
A debate on limitations should be addressed "with perspective" and not by particular likes or dislikes. "We cannot address the needs of our services and housing policies, if we do not address the population growth we have experienced." If this problem is not addressed, all the efforts of the government "run the risk of being diluted".
While pressing for limitations, she acknowledged that migration policy is the exclusive responsibility of the state and that the Balearics are part of the European Union, which enshrines the free movement of goods and people within the Schengen Area.