Palma's council meeting on Thursday was dominated by fierce clashes related to the Spanish Government's process of regularising the status of undocumented immigrants. In an intervention by the president of the federation of residents associations, Maribel Alcázar, the town hall's treatment of these immigrants was denounced. There was "unequal treatment" between undocumented immigrants and foreigners from the north.
"It wouldn't hurt to look at the migration of people from the wealthy north and how it impacts our host society. We don't consider this population to be immigrants... . Those from the north buy houses at exorbitant prices and leave us without access to housing."
"Regularisation involves administration, increasing Social Security contributions, and bringing a significant portion of the workforce out of the underground economy, preventing them from fuelling mafias that exploit extreme need for their own gain - and these are indeed illegal activities. Enabling this population to access healthcare is also a way to protect the health of the general population and prevent epidemic outbreaks."
Alcázar referred specifically to Vox's proposal to promote national priority - the demand that Spanish nationals be the first to receive aid and housing, while undocumented immigrants receive no healthcare except in emergencies.
The left opposition at the town hall was highly critical of the Partido Popular administration for the offices of citizen service having been overwhelmed by undocumented immigrants seeking certificates of vulnerability - in those cases where these are needed for the regularisation application.
Francisco Ducrós of PSOE said it was "unacceptable what the mayor has done, which is to give instructions, either himself or someone on the governing team, not to reinforce the service." Ducrós went on to say of Vox that "Nazism is their role model". This was when the Vox leader, Fulgencio Coll, was defending his party's motion of national priority, which also called for the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.
The Vox motion was defeated, the Partido Popular's Mercedes Celeste saying: "This is a concept typical of identity-based parties, and the PP is a humanist, liberal party. It (the motion) involves expelling foreigners, even their children who have Spanish nationality. We oppose that; it's unconstitutional and contrary to the defence of people."