The Balearic Parliament on Tuesday witnessed the turning point to which Vox and the left-wing People’s Party were subjected to the controversy over the fiscal spending cap for the Autonomous Community, against which the entire chamber – with the exception of the seats of the Popular Group – rose amid accusations that they – the Conservatives – are a “real scam” and a “raw scam”. As in other autonomous communities governed by the People’s Party, Marga Bruhinz’s government does not have the necessary numbers to implement its third budgets of the legislature, a fact that the first vice president of the Balearic Executive, Antoni Costa, who was the focus of the groups’ censure in today’s session, attributed to orders issued by the national headquarters of the PSIB-PSOE and the far right and not to “technical contradictions or economic differences.”
Although the Popular Party appeared in the plenary session considering that the spending ceiling had been lost based on the results of the negotiations that took place in recent weeks, the Minister of Economy, Finance and Innovation confirmed that they had put forward, at the beginning of the negotiations, “with all clarity” the two conditions that their formation had put on the table: that the talks be limited to budget issues, refusing to turn into an “exchange of posters,” and to develop “with the desire to approve budgets”: “We did not want” and stressed that “in the actual negotiations, we did not want to hold secret talks, and we did not want to justify the ideological positions that were taken.” “It is actually dictated from outside the Balearic Islands.”
Costa took to the podium, admitting without any palliatives that the PP had not been able to gather sufficient support to implement a basic procedure for approving budgets and, as he had already hinted in November, admitted that he would have to extend the accounts for 2025. In his speech, the Minister expressed his regret that the negotiations had failed and that the PSIB and Vox had “obstructed” budgets that, among other things, “make it possible to respond to the current reality of the country.” The Balearic Islands, facing a continuing increase in demographic pressure on health, education and social services, need more professionals, more infrastructure and more investment immediately. He criticized, saying: “Pedro Sánchez and Santiago Abascal would rather the Balearic Islands not have budgets than for this government to do its job,” considering that “the decision had been made in advance, and the rejection was guaranteed.”
In response, Vox’s parliamentary spokeswoman, Manuela Cañadas, considered that the regional calculations “have once again been shaped by the irresponsibility of the government that has turned public administration into an endless chain of excuses, lies and disloyalty, but with a difference that must be burned in the minutes of this chamber”, and warned: “The scenario has changed radically because of the broken trust.” He added: “After four months of closing budgets that were born late and have an expiration date, we find ourselves in this situation and we owe the citizens the truth. Let us not forget or allow us to forget that in December 2024 we had a moral and political obligation to drop their accounts. This was not just a whim, but rather it was an act of legitimate defense of parliamentary dignity.”
While Costa continued to lend a hand to Vox to negotiate future initiatives, the far-right leader warned that her party would not “engage further in the game of traps” or “allow them to use our parliamentary group as an excuse for their mismanagement or directives from Genova Street.” He stressed, “Our position is firm. We cannot, must not, and will not support this spending cap or support future budgets. The reason is devastating and simple: you have proven that you lack the most valuable and essential assets to legitimately govern with word, commitment, and loyalty with your preferred partners and with the citizens who have given you their trust.”