MÉS per Mallorca withdraws its initial support for the regulation after the modifications proposed by Vox were included. Vox advocates for the primary sector to have a share of the tourism industry by allowing equestrian activities. The PP defends the usefulness of the regulation and accuses the opposition of allowing the introduction of amendments.
The Parliament has approved the bill on macro-farms, which prohibits poultry farms with more than 160,000 hens, including several amendments from Vox to remove the Catalan language requirement in public healthcare or to legalize polo fields like the one in Campos. The regulation, initially passed as a decree-law in January, has now been passed with favorable votes from the PP, non-affiliated deputies, and Llorenç Córdoba (28), abstention from Vox (5), and opposition from the left (25).
Initially, the text had been agreed upon between the Govern and MÉS per Mallorca, but the inclusion of some of the modifications proposed by Santiago Abascal’s party led the eco-sovereignists to change their stance. The bill, as reflected in the report from the Economy Committee, prohibits poultry macro-farms with more than 160,000 laying hens and sets limits on the size of these projects based on their proximity to urban areas.
Thus, those housing over 20,000 hens must be at least two kilometers away from the nearest residential urban area. Between two and four kilometers, they can have up to 40,000 birds, while between four and six kilometers, they can accommodate up to 80,000. The maximum limit is set at 160,000, which must be at least six kilometers away from residential urban areas.
The need to regulate these large-scale farms arose after a company planned a poultry macro-farm near Sineu, where they intended to raise 750,000 hens and process products from another 220,000 from different farms. The Govern itself revoked the authorization for this project, after which they drafted and validated the decree with the support of MÉS per Mallorca. The rest of the left opposed it alongside Vox, who have now supported it by including their amendments.
The text from the Committee also included budgetary control amendments introduced by the PSIB with the support of Santiago Abascal’s party, which have since been dropped.
VOX AMENDMENTS
The amendments proposed by Vox, some of which have received support from the ‘popular’ parliamentary group, focus on various subjects. Some of them are unrelated to the essence of the bill, such as exempting the requirement of Catalan proficiency for healthcare personnel in the Balearic public health system, which will now be a merit. For non-healthcare personnel, it will remain a requirement, but exceptions can be made when the lack of professionals affects service provision.
This way, Vox and the PP are securing an issue that has been part of regional legislation for two years through a decree-law and will be reviewed by the Constitutional Court. Another amendment exempts workers in a stabilization process from the Catalan language requirement. If they become civil servants, they will have four years to meet the linguistic requirement.
Furthermore, the agricultural law has been amended to allow agricultural operations to host various equestrian activities and related infrastructure, enabling the legalization of polo fields like the one in Campos. However, the amendments proposed by left-wing groups did not pass, including Unidas Podemos’ proposal for the regulation to cover all types of livestock farming, not just poultry, and the PSIB’s suggestions to define the dimensions of operations considered industrial-scale.
PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, and the Natural Environment, Joan Simonet, opened the debate, highlighting a «straightforward» regulation that addresses previously unregulated aspects at both state and regional levels. He mentioned the amendments tabled by various groups, suggesting those related to the norm should be discussed in a potential review of agricultural legislation, while others were beyond his scope.
He emphasized his commitment, and that of his department, to work on agricultural policies beneficial to farmers, stressing that they are the primary focus. Vox’s Sergio Rodríguez argued that intensive agricultural operations are essential to ensure local products are affordable. He defended the amendments as providing legal certainty and allowing the agricultural sector to benefit from tourism.
Regarding the Campos polo field, he claimed ignorance of its existence until reading about it in the press, a statement met with opposition cries of «liar.» MÉS per Mallorca’s Ferran Rosa criticized the PP for breaking their explicit commitment to only address poultry macro-farms in the bill, suggesting the inclusion of other issues was to legalize the Campos polo field, a move driven by the PP spokesperson’s ties to the municipality.
Socialist deputy Marc Pons advocated for an extensive agricultural model tailored to the climate and territory, criticizing the bill for not banning pig, goat, or cattle farms and for lacking environmental, landscape, odor, water pollution, and animal welfare conditions. He lamented that their proposals were overlooked in favor of aligning with Vox.
PP deputy Pedro Álvarez praised the bill for addressing legal gaps in existing regulations and protecting the primary sector, limiting excessive industries, and safeguarding the environment and people. He attributed the inclusion of Vox’s amendments to the opposition’s approval of transitioning the decree into a bill.
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FUENTE