Simon Hunter
THE NEW Popular Party-run administration in the Balearic Islands regional government has already scrapped the Environment and Equality departments, folding them into other areas of the administration. The move by the conservative party comes after it did a deal with the far-right Vox in order to form a government.
The PP was the most-voted party at the May 28 regional elections in the Balearics, but fell short of an absolute majority. As a result, it reached a confidence-and-supply agreement with far-right Vox that saw a government formed and its candidate, Margalida Prohens, voted in as premier.
The arrival of the PP in power in the Balearic Islands has brought an and to eight years of governance by the Socialist Party with support from leftist Unidas Podemos (United We Can) and smaller nationalist parties.
To close the deal, the PP agreed to 110 measures with Vox, according to Spanish daily El Pais, including limiting rights for trans people, an increased use of Spanish compared to Catalan in Balearic classrooms, and limits on the reach of the national euthanasia law.
Prohens was voted in as premier thanks to the abstention of Vox in the Balearic parliament.
Since then, she has scrapped the two aforementioned departments, transferring the powers of the Equality department to Family and Social Affairs, and Equality to the Balearic Women’s Institute.
In response, the Socialist Party has accused the PP of adopting ‘Vox’s principles’.
The PP and Vox have agreed governing deals in a series of regions and hundreds of local councils since the May 28 local and general elections. The parties are expected to form a coalition government in the wake of the July 23 general elections, given that polling predicts the PP to win the most votes but to fall short of an absolute majority.
