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KING Juan Carlos received in formal audience Jaume Matas, head of the Balearic Government, and the mayor of the City of Palma, Catalina Cirer at the Almudaina Palace yesterday. Matas presented all the members of his cabinet to His Majesty, who greeted each of the 12 ministers.
Afterwards, the King had private talks with Jaume Matas at which the mayor of Palma, Catalina Cirer was also present. Her City Council team were received by the King a while later. Matas said later that it was “an honour” to be able to chat with the King and to have the opportunity to “share our principal concerns and to talk about our aims.” According to Matas, he spoke to the King about his preoccupation with the economic situation in the Islands, quality of life, with the creation and stabilizing of employment in the region, with tourism, the environment, with infrastructure and energy supply. The Balearic leader expressed his gratitude to the King for “having in His Majesty and the Royal Family the foremost citizens of the Islands.” Matas said that in the talks that he and Cirer held with the King they touched on the subject of the “candidature of the City of Palma to play host to the next America's Cup sailing championships”. He emphasized that “the two Spanish cities that have put forward bids for the event (Valencia and Palma) can count on the full support of His Majesty”. Later the same day, the King also met 24 of the 29 councillors of the City Council of Palma, led by the Mayor Catalina Cirer.
Cirer thanked the King for his presence and that of the Royal Family on the occasion of their annual summer holidays on Majorca. When the official audience had finished, the Mayor brought to media attention her satisfaction at having the opportunity to “put herself and her City Council team at the disposition of not just the King but all the Royal Family” just two months after regional elections had swept the new government into power. “We had the opportunity to introduce ourselves, to explain to him the new order at the City Council and what the changes were that had come about,” said the Mayor. Cirer referred to the meeting as being “cordial” and furthered that “the King is very sensitive to all the problems of our capital city and that he feels very much a citizen of Palma during the weeks and months that he is among us. He worries about the same issues that concern the inhabitants of Palma” stressed the Mayor.