Parliament rejects hiking wealth tax

PALMA
THE opposition Partido Popular and Majorcan Unionist Party yesterday voted against the Socialist-led coalition government's plan to increase taxes for the wealthy next year.

The so-called wealth tax has been extremely unpopular since first being promoted by the Socialist minority government and yesterday the PP and the UM joined forces to vote against it.

Both the UM and the PP said that they do not consider a wealth tax as a sensible and viable solution to the current economic crisis in the Balearics.
Partido Popular MP, Santiago Tadeo, said that the Socialists are searching for desperate measures, such as increasing the taxes on the rich, after three years of mismanagement of the local economy.

The Balearic Minister for Finance, Carles Manera, told Parliament that he considered the budgetary proposals for next to year to be “fair and progressive.” Manera accused the Partido Popular and Majorcan Unionists of simply trying to win votes as the region enters into a local election year.