The new es Caló de s’Oli auditorium was packed to the rafters on Monday to once again host the institutional ceremony commemorating the 43rd anniversary of the Spanish Constitution, following a year with no event due to the pandemic. In his speech, the Consell de Ibiza President, Vicent MarÃ, called for more funds from the European Union and the State, in recognition of the “insularity factor”, to guarantee “the social and economic recovery of the island” as it emerges from the Covid-induced health crisis.
Vicent Marà referred to the Magna Carta to stress that “the time has come to recognise real equality between the citizens and territories” of Spain, as well as “the problems arising from insularity”, and demanded that “the real needs of the islands be championed, over and above ideologies and partisanship”.
The Consell President stressed that the island’s institutions “have pulled together” to face “the challenges of the virus”, but now, “faced with the challenge of managing Ibiza’s social and economic recovery”, there is a need for “the recognition and economic funds to guarantee citizens’ rights and responsibilities, as set out in our Constitution”.
To this end, Vicent Marà expressed “hope” for the arrival of European funds and extraordinary financing to compensate for the insularity factor because, he stressed, “we must respond on the level at which society’s demands and needs are increasing, and thus contribute to a recovery based on justice, equality and solidarity”.
Ibiza: new financing system
Speaking on a political level, the Director of the State Administration in the Pitiusas Islands, Enrique Sánchez, also stressed that the Spanish government has incorporated “the insularity factor into its budget and has opened negotiations on a new system of regional funding”, which must be agreed “through dialogue and consensus” with the aim of “guaranteeing the protection of the most vulnerable population”.
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