Step in the right direction

By Jason Moore THE announcement last week that the Balearic Government intends to create a post within the new Ministry for Immigration to handle issues involving non-Spanish European Union citizens is obviously a positive move and one which should be applauded. Calvia tourism councillor, Kate Mentink, has been appointed to the post. While it is obviously a step in the right direction it is an enormous task and involves literally thousands of people of many nationalities. It is a Balearic government post and therefore will also include all the non-Spanish Europeans who live in Ibiza/Formentera and Minorca. Let's face it, the foreign community in the islands is going to continue to grow. There are far more people now coming to the islands to either retire or work. Then there are the literally thousands of holiday home owners. Perhaps, the time has come to create yet another government ministry to cope with the influx of non-Spanish European residents. This is not going overboard. The local ministry for Immigration was created to help the thousands of South Americans and Africans who now live in the Balearics. Establishing a small annex for the non-Spanish Europeans is not enough if all the problems are to be tackled correctly which range from whether or not we need a residence permit to the fate of elderly expatriates.