On May 19th, the Consell Insular de Ibiza approved the 1 euro daily tax that authorised vehicles entering and circulating around the island will have to pay as of 1 June, with the votes in favour coming from the PP and the only councillor from Unidas Podemos. In the same vote, the allegations presented by the shipping and car rental companies, as well as Baleària, were rejected. Only one was partially accepted, relating to a correction in the text.
The three PSOE councillors and the only VOX representative in the plenary voted against both issues, although for different reasons. The Socialists, explained councillor Víctor Torres, rejected these decisions because they consider that the government of the Partido Popular, Vicent Marí has broken the consensus on the law which, as of June, will limit vehicle access to the island of Ibiza. This law was agreed upon by almost all the groups represented in Parliament, including the PP and the PSIB, Torres said. However, Torres denounced the fact that, when it came to drafting the ordinance that will regulate the payment of a daily fee, the consensus was disregarded because the Consell did not negotiate this point with the opposition. «The PSOE is in favour of the law,» stressed Víctor Torres, «but against its unilateral implementation without consensus.»
The councillor for the Treasury, Salvador Losa, has defended the work of the island’s civil servants who have drawn up the reports against the allegations presented to the text of the ordinance regulating the tax. The allegations were signed by the employers’ associations of the shipping and car rental companies and by the company Baleària. Only one allegation relating to the correction of the repetition of a sentence in the text was partially accepted.
Losa reproached the Socialists for their lack of support during the final stage of processing the law before its implementation. He reminded them that these procedures had been carried out within the requested six-month timeframe. He also asked them why they had not submitted objections at this stage if they disagreed with the decisions made by the Consell. He also criticised them for ‘lacking the courage to stand up to the shipping companies’ and accused them of ‘looking for excuses’.