The free choice of language in education opens the first major crisis in the PP-Vox pact in the Balearic Islands. This Tuesday, the far-right party toppled the spending ceiling that the Government of Marga Prohens had presented after the popular party did not support a proposal from Abascal’s party to implement the free choice of language in education starting next year.
The crisis comes when the first 100 days of the Prohens Government have passed and after a few days of serious threats from Vox to the popular president due to the lukewarmness with which they consider that the agreement signed between the two parties is being fulfilled.
This Tuesday, a non-legal proposal presented by Vox was debated to urge the Balearic Government to implement the free choice of language in all sections of education and the PP abstained because it did not agree with the set deadlines. The result is that Vox has not supported the spending ceiling in a subsequent vote, which is why it has been rejected with the votes of Vox and the left.
The pact signed by the two formations that allowed a Prohens Government alone includes the free choice of language in education, but does not specify a calendar, which is why the PP defends a progressive implementation throughout the legislature, something that is shocking. with the claims of Vox, which wants immediate implementation.
The two parties have accused each other of having broken the agreement signed at the time, which obliges Vox to approve the Budgets and not present amendments to the entirety. The PP has insisted that it is complying with the agreement and defends that there will be freedom to choose the language of instruction when the legislature ends.
The parliamentary spokesperson for the ‘popular’, Marga Duran, has criticized that Vox votes with the left-wing parties against budgets that include tax cuts and reductions in senior positions, in addition to other issues agreed upon with Vox. “We ask Vox to reconsider and not vote against the budgets of the change,” she said after the turbulent plenary session. She added that the PP will not do “anything” to stay in the Government.
The president of Vox in the Balearic Islands, Patricia de las Heras, has defended Vox’s position and has reminded the PP that their votes are necessary to be able to move forward with the proposals in the Balearic Parliament, which is why she has demanded that Prohens comply with what was agreed. . “They must not forget that, if they are in the Government, it is thanks to us,” she said.
On October 6, the Government Council approved a spending ceiling of 6,365.5 million euros for next year, 7.03% more than in 2023. The vice president of the Government and Minister of Hisenda, Antoni Costa, He explained in the presentation that these are the first budgets without a deficit. The new Budgets already incorporated tax reductions, such as the elimination of the inheritance tax that the Balearic Islands approved as soon as Prohens arrived at the Government. Reductions are also planned in the highest income tax brackets and a new modulation of the tourist tax, in addition to new tax relief.
