Before turning his attention to the Mapfre King’s Cup and his traditional meeting with the President of the Government, King Felipe VI on Friday attended another of the regular events on his summer schedule in Mallorca: the institutional audiences with the main authorities of the Balearic Islands. This series of meetings, held at the Almudaina Palace, serves each summer to take the pulse of the archipelago’s political, economic, and social situation and, once again, has highlighted some of the issues of greatest concern to the islands’ institutions.
The day began at 10:00 AM with a reception with the President of the Regional Government, Marga Prohens, and continued, in this order, with the President of the Regional Parliament, Gabriel Le Senne; the Mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez; and the President of the Council of Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés. Although each meeting was held behind closed doors, all the institutional leaders later appeared before the media to reveal the main topics discussed with the monarch.
Prohens and the debate on the tourism model
The first to meet with Felipe VI was Marga Prohens, who took advantage of the audience to convey the archipelago’s main concerns, with a particular emphasis on the debate about the tourism model. After the meeting, the president said she understood the concern felt by some members of the public regarding tourist overcrowding, although she attributed the sector’s “excessive” growth to the last two terms of the previous left-wing regional government.
He argued that the Balearic Islands had added some 115,000 tourist beds in eight years, a figure he described as “unacceptable” for a region like the Balearic Islands. In this context, he presented to the King the measures introduced by his government to curb the pressure from tourism, such as reducing the cruise passenger quota, combating illegal rentals of tourist apartments, and supporting vehicle restrictions in Ibiza and Formentera, despite the appeal filed by the National Markets and Competition Commission. Prohens also criticized the PSOE for, in her view, promoting airport expansions that encourage more visitors while criticizing the current management of tourism.
Le Senne and the ‘law of the grandchildren’
The second meeting was with the President of the Balearic Parliament, Gabriel Le Senne. The president took the opportunity to welcome the King to Mallorca and to express his gratitude for the impact that the Royal Family’s summer visit has on the island’s international profile. The conversation began by addressing the wildfires affecting various parts of the mainland and continued with issues such as demographic growth and the state of tourism in the Balearic Islands.
Le Senne also conveyed his concern to the monarch about the implementation of the so-called ‘cleanliness law,’ as he believed that one of the directives issued to implement the legislation may have unduly expanded its scope. Although he acknowledged that irregular immigration was another of the topics discussed during the conversation, he avoided going into more detail on this point, noting that he was attending the meeting in his capacity as president of the Parliament and not as the leader of Vox in the Balearic Islands.
Jaime Martínez and the housing crisis
The third activity of the morning took the Mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez, to the Almudaina, where he took the opportunity to personally invite King Felipe VI to the events commemorating the 800th anniversary of the conquest of Mallorca by James I, which will be held in 2029. The mayor pointed out that the King also holds the title of King of Mallorca and considered it entirely natural to involve him in a commemoration for which preparations have already begun.
In addition to this invitation, Martínez presented to the King some of the key projects being promoted by the Palma City Council. The conversation focused on the housing crisis, the tourism model, and, in particular, the strong demographic growth experienced by the Balearic capital – a reality that, as he explained, makes it necessary to plan the city with a medium and long-term perspective. The mayor also highlighted the improvement in water reserves compared to the previous year.
Galmés and vehicle access restrictions
The round of institutional meetings concluded with the president of the Council of Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, who dedicated much of his meeting to one of the insular council’s flagship measures: the future restrictions on vehicle access to Mallorca. Galmés announced to the King that the legislation, which is currently going through the parliamentary process, will take effect next summer and described it as the main traffic-reducing measure introduced during this legislative term.
The President of the Council also addressed the difficulty of accessing housing, the allocation of land for the construction of social housing, and the growing number of migrants arriving on the coast of Mallorca – a situation he described as “unsustainable” and for which he again called for Frontex’s intervention.
The conversation also included a long section dedicated to the island’s cultural heritage. Galmés invited Felipe VI to see the 15th-century portolan chart recently acquired by the Council and on display at the Museum of Mallorca, informed him of the recovery of the sunken Roman ship found at Ses Fontanelles, and made one last invitation: to attend the concert that singer Jaume Anglada will give on November 7 at the Principal Theatre in Palma, marking his return to the stage after the accident he suffered last year.
Through these four audiences, Felipe VI maintains an institutional tradition that, every summer, transforms the Almudaina Palace into a meeting point between the Crown and the main institutions of the Balearic Islands, at a time especially marked by debates on issues such as housing, the impact of tourism, demographic growth, and the management of migration to the islands.
