Marga Prohens Takes Charge

MARGA PROHENS was sworn in as the new President of the Balearic Islands on Friday.

She takes over from former Govern leader Francina Armengol (PSOE) following her victory in the regional elections held at the end of May.

In her first speech as president, Prohens (PP) vowed to “bring the change that the people have asked for” and to “govern for everyone and for the four islands, aware of our plural and diverse reality”.

“I will stand up for this region and its people, and I aim to put the best men and women at its service,” added the new president.

However, her first decisions at the head of the Govern were met with controversy this week, as she eliminated the Environment department and announced that its functions would be shared out among other councillors.

Prohens explained that this move will save the regional coffers €1 million a year by bringing the number of government departments down from 11 to 10.

The presentation of her new executive also caused raised eyebrows as it features more men than women, doing away with the policy of equal representation of both genders.

In another highly controversial move, the new regional president scrapped the Linguistic Policy department and eliminated all references to protecting or promoting the Catalan language from the official document outlining the composition and functions of the new government.

This decision even made it into the campaign for the Spanish general elections on July 23, as Sumar candidate Yolanda Díaz, who was campaigning in Mallorca this week – and who is from Galicia – insisted that if elected, her government would defend the linguistic plurality of the country and stand by “the right of people to talk Catalan, Galician or any language they want”.

Prohens, who will finally be able to govern on her own without having to depend on the support of far-right party Vox in exchange for several agreements, did however announce the creation of a new Linguistic Freedom Guarantee Office.

This department will be run by Vox and will reportedly aim “to defend freedom of use and linguistic choice and to promote the protection of both Spanish and Catalan and the linguistic modalities of the different islands”.