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Palma.—The two hospitals in Palma threatened with closure, against which health unions have fought a bitter battle, are to remain open, Balearic President José Ramón Bauzá said yesterday in a session of the regional Parliament.

He also said that the Balearics is to receive 333 million euros from Central Government for road building programmes.
Bauzá gave the news as part of his two-hour speech in a Regional Debate held at the Parliamentary meeting. The President repeated his commitment to rooting out corruption and gave assurances that the Balearic Partido Popular (PP) is complying with its self-imposed code of ethics.

Bauzá said that the Joan March and General Hospitals will continue operating although he acknowledged that their closure had originally been planned to help the region bring down the public deficit as ordered by Central Government.

Budget amendment
Next Monday, a special amendment is being made to the State Budget for 2013 in the Senate in Madrid which will reflect these changes, Bauzá said.
The President claimed during his speech that under his government in the Balearics, “things are gradually changing for the better” and that the “grave economic situation” facing the PP when they took power is being brought under control. He acknowledged that “certain errors” had been made and vowed to minimise such mistakes in the future.

Speaking of economic matters, Bauzá said that contrary to what the opposition parties claimed, the healthy tourist season this year had made a difference to employment levels and were the tourist season to be lengthened, such a difference would be even greater. The President claimed his government had managed to halt the mounting numbers of jobless, although it was still “not yet possible to speak in terms of a definite change in trend.” He made a commitment to finalise the construction of the Congress centre at the eastern end of the Paseo Maritimo.