Palma Town Hall is seeking the autonomy to be able to reduce or eliminate the legally mandated percentage of subsidised housing on certain urban developments. This would enable private developers, who are primarily responsible for public housing construction, to build without being constrained by the obligation for subsidised housing.
The councillor for finance and public function, Mercedes Celeste, said on Thursday this would only occur with specific cases and always with prior technical and supporting reports as well as ratification at a council meeting.
At present, 50% of developments are required to be one of the various forms of public housing. The administration wants a more flexible approach. If one development is exempt or has the percentage reduced, this will be compensated for on another development. If approved by the Balearic Parliament, this would entail a significant change to Palma's urban planning. It has been included as a proposed amendment to the 'ley de capitalidad', which is a legal mechanism by which capital cities, such as Palma, are granted additional powers and funding. The amendment has been proposed by the Partido Popular and Vox.
At Thursday's council meeting, the opposition said this measure was being introduced "through the back door" and without transparency. "They want to rush the debate in three minutes," said PSOE spokesperson Xisco Ducrós. "They are avoiding public participation. It's a disgrace, given that the housing crisis is Palma's main problem. I don't know what they had for breakfast."
Neus Truyol of Més welcomed a request for a €60 million increase in funding, but added: "It’s like rolling out the red carpet for private developers." The additional funding would be "a smokescreen to do what the PP and Vox want, which is to shower private initiatives with public money and reduce the number of affordable housing units".
Celeste insisted: “Any modification will have to be approved by the full council, and the overall reserve for subsidised housing in Palma can never be changed. It’s an administrative simplification to expedite any private projects that may be submitted."