Terenia Taras
THE Balearics president Francina Armengol has told the regional parliament that the Islands are bouncing back and will achieve a full economic and employment recovery during 2022.
Speaking during a two day debate in parliament this week she said the islands were looking forward to a prolonged return to social and economic normality.
Comparing the Covid crisis to the financial disaster of 2008, she insisted that recovery would not take 10 years and that the Balearics will bounce back within two years since the start of the pandemic.
Reports suggest that the Balearics will be the fastest recovering Autonomous Community in Spain with a forecast increase in local GDP of 12.1 per cent.
“Within two years, this will allow us to recover and overcome the historical decline that occurred last year,” she said.
She stressed that ‘the islands were already on the way to recovery’.
“It has been evident this summer, when no one has managed to create more jobs, generate more turnover or attract more visitors than the Balearic Islands.”
Armengol also praised everyone who had worked together throughout the difficult period.
And paid tribute with a one-minute silence within the Parliament chamber in memory of the 934 people on the Islands who lost their lives during the pandemic.
The swift recovery is due to the success of the vaccination programme which has helped to create a general herd immunity, she said
But Armengol stated that the pressure on hospitals will not be eased entirely until every person has been fully vaccinated.
During Armengol’s speech it transpired that the European Recovery Fund was also a significant factor.
Whilst the Balearics had been waiting for this massive injection of money, Spain’s national government and the PSOE, have through ERTE and other financial support ensured that the country survived.
Members of the opposition parties in the regional parliament however criticised Armengol for appearing to be unaware of the true situation of those who had suffered so much during the pandemic.
They believed that in her speech she was overly optimistic and also triumphalist, claiming success for herself which was not warranted.
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