Crisis, what crisis? ask Greens over tourist tax

The Green's Minister for the Environment, Margalida Rossello, yesterday said that she has no intention of resigning, despite her party having sparked yet another internal crisis at the core of the Balearic left-wing coalition and thrown the proposed tourist tax into even deeper controversy. Rossello, trying to defend her party, said yesterday that the Green Party's objections to the proposed tax should be seen as “constructive.” Taking the onus of a new rift in the local government, Rossello focused the attention on problems within her own party and she admitted that the “internal organs” of the Green party have to decide whether or not they wish to remain in government and part of the coalition “because every other minute there are internal government conflicts.” Ahead of Rossello's press conference, co-ordinator for the Green party Majorca, Jordi Lopez and party spokesperson Miguel Angel LLuager, said that the party has no intention of breaking the coalition government. However it was Lopez and Ibizan MP Joan Buades, who announced a series of objections to the tourist tax during Tuesday's first parliamentary debate of the new sitting. Both said that as the project stands, the Greens will not vote in favour of the tax as the government tries to push it through parliament allowing sufficient time for the levy to be introduced for next summer. The Green threat received a short sharp response from Francesc Antich who threw down the gauntlet to the Greens demanding that the party decide whether “it's in or out” of the government. Yesterday Rossello said that the Green Party fully supports the tourist tax and that the objections raised were not aimed at causing “confusion and destabilising” the government.