On Tuesday, President Marga Prohens announced a €3.8 billion investment plan to "transform the Balearic Islands".
At a presentation for the 'Islands in Transformation' plan, Prohens explained that there will be investments in healthcare, education, social care, water cycle infrastructure, housing under the auspices of the Ibavi housing agency, mobility, tourism sustainability, and security.
"Two years on from entering government, we now have a complete vision of infrastructure investment for the coming years with investments that have not been made in the region for 20 years. When we consider this as a whole, what we will witness is the transformation of the Balearic Islands."
The president stressed the urgency and need to implement this plan in order to improve the quality of life of the islands' citizens by providing better public infrastructure.
All the investments will be in addition to measures already implemented for housing, health and sustainability. "These are challenges that cannot be resolved with a decree or in one or two years, but require solid and ambitious foundations and a clear roadmap."
Specific investment will include 600 million euros for education. Seventy-seven new schools are planned, among other things. Healthcare investment of €450 million up to 2028 will be for projects such as the new hospital in Felanitx and the expansion of the Manacor Hospital. There will be 14 new nursing homes and 137 million euros for Ibavi to invest in housing for social renting over the coming years.
Regarding mobility, Prohens said: "Up to €150 million have been allocated to improve TIB bus services and for the completion of the Metro service to Parc Bit. We have two rail projects worth €1.4 billion in the pipeline and on schedule: the train to Llucmajor and the train to Alcudia. We're also committed to other projects and, of course, to signing a new rail agreement with the Spanish Government."
Water cycle infrastructure investment will total €713 million; this will include three new desalination plants. For sustainable tourism, €284 million is going on projects like the redevelopment of Palma's Plaça Major and the conservation of the Menorcan countryside. And for security and emergency response there will be €24 million.
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Before spending a penny on desalination plants, wouldn´t it make a lot more sense to fix the actual water infrastructure for a fraction of the cost. Villages like Esporles waste about 40% of their water due to leaks in their supply system.
Haha it's taken them 2 years clowns at work
So, nothing in our lifetime then, but the politicians will all carry on living comfortably.
Great ideas Andrew. Just one question, where is the funding coming from? Taxes??? The season is, without a doubt, quieter this year. It’s better. But less tourism (legal) equals less tax revenue. Spain (mainland) takes money from Mallorca. EU is tightening it’s purse strings, Germany and France have started to question funding. So, I ask again, where is the billion euro funding going to come from? Good ideas are hollow, if there is no money to make them reality.
How much of this will be apportioned to housing? As always, the devil is in the details.
Just TogetpublishedHold your horses, drinkable tap water first please.
And the tram?