The left changes its voting stance and Vox insists on its rejection of aid that it considers directed at «crony organizations.»
The plenary session of the Consell de Mallorca has reversed its decision and approved the grant of 95,000 euros for 2025 to the Gremi de Llibreters, which will help finance the organization of the upcoming Book Fair.
This was agreed upon in an extraordinary plenary session on Wednesday, where the approval of this aid, which was rejected in the ordinary session last week due to the lack of agreement between the PP and the left, was the sole item on the agenda.
This time, the ‘popular’ party, PSIB, MÉS per Mallorca, and El PI voted together (26), and the initiative only received four votes against from Vox, despite being part of the island government.
The island councilor for Culture and Heritage, Antònia Roca, emphasized the need to «restore support for a historic call» from the Consell de Mallorca so that booksellers can finance activities such as the Book Fair or the ‘Setmana del llibre en català.’
Roca thanked El PI for their support last week and the willingness of the leader of MÉS per Mallorca in the island institution, Jaume Alzamora –whom she referred to as the «leader of the opposition»– for changing his voting stance. However, she did not address the socialists and bypassed the double negative from Vox.
THE «LAST CREDIT» OF THE OPPOSITION
Alzamora justified his party’s favorable vote by defending culture and the Catalan language but warned of the «problem of stability and governance» and issued a warning to the government team and the island president, Llorenç Galmés.
«Today, their credit of ‘just because’ runs out. When they do things for which our votes are necessary, let’s talk. That implies a concession, and they will have to give in and talk. We are responsible and will be, but we will give them a blank check,» stated the ecosovereignist.
In a similar vein, the spokesperson for the socialist group, Catalina Cladera, despite her favorable vote, criticized the «despotic act» that Roca carried out last week by not reaching out to the opposition for support when she knew she didn’t have Vox’s.
«Today is the last credit that we, as PSIB, give for certain actions, for which they will need us if they want to maintain them,» said Cladera.
The spokesperson for El PI, Antoni Salas, urged that the lack of dialogue «not spoil a good initiative» and considered a grant of 95,000 euros «a gift» when considering the number of activities organized by the Gremi de Llibreters.
THE BOOKSELLERS, A «CRONY ORGANIZATION»
The ‘popular’ spokesperson, Núria Riera, criticized the left for voting against support for the Gremi de Llibreters last week, especially since they had previously supported it when they were in opposition.
«No matter what excuses they give, it was an unprecedented political mistake,» she lamented. On the contrary, she said she respected Vox’s decision to vote against.
«Whether we like it or not, we will respect them for voting according to their ideas. But the fact that there are groups that agree with language support, that have made a flag of Catalan and culture and then voted against their own ideas on Thursday, no one understands and respects it,» Riera pointed out.
Vox’s spokesperson, Toni Gili, criticized a grant that he believed was aimed at «crony organizations that only know how to live off public funds» that impose a «linguistic apartheid» and «encouraged» the secessionist process in Catalonia. «We have always voted against and will continue to do so,» he reaffirmed.
If it were up to his party, he said, these grants would go to composting plants to guarantee the «freedom» of the people of Mallorca. «The PP will find us in everything that builds freedom, but not in those aspects where we agree with the socialists and the ecosovereignists,» he concluded.
In her response, Roca countered Gili’s arguments and defended that the Gremi de Llibreters «is not a crony organization and does not impose anything.» To prove it, she invited him to visit the stands that will fill the streets of Palma next week for the Book Fair.
FUENTE