02/01/2015 00:00
TW
0

Palma.—The President of the Balearic government Jose Ramon Bauza said in his New Year speech that the economic recovery which was now “well underway” would lead to the creation of 10,000 new jobs in 2015.
“In 2015 we will see the islands finally coming out of recession,” said the President who indicated that the recovery had been slower than initially forecast.
“We understand that the rate of economic recovery has not been as fast as we wished, but we are working long and hard to restore the economy in the Balearics.”
Bauza, who is expected to stand for re-election in the local elections in May this year, said that the rate of unemployment had fallen for the last 25 months.
“The local economy will grow by two percent this year which will mean thousands of new jobs,” Bauza said. Bauza also mentioned that he would continue to fight for better state funding for the islands from the central administration in Madrid. For many years the islands have paid Madrid much more than they receive from the central administration in the form of taxes.
The Balearic President, also took the opportunity of his New Year speech, to underline his opposition to oil and gas exploration in Balearic waters. “We must fight to safeguard our beautiful coastline.”
Bauza, who is also leader of the centre-right Partido Popular, faces a difficult year with his party well behind in the polls. The latest opinion polls say that the Partido Popular would lose thousands of votes and could be ejected from both the Balearic government, the Council of Majorca and the Palma City Council.
The Balearic President is using the economic recovery to underline that his party should be given another four years in power. But there is concern that while the economy is growing again there has been an important increase in the poverty levels.