The councillor for Economy, Finance and Innovation, Antoni Costa, has stated his intention to have the basic project that will allow developing the new facilities of the Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB) in ParcBit before the current term of office ends.
Costa expressed himself in these terms this Tuesday during his appearance before the Finance and Budget Commission of the Parliament, where he responded to various questions raised by the PSIB.
"This same term of office will have a basic project on the table and I hope that, in the next one, there will be a building linked to the Escuela Politécnica Superior of the Universitat de les Illes Balears with at least 5,000 square meters of built area made available for teaching and research", he said.
The Socialist MP asked the councillor for explanations regarding the acquisition by the UIB of plot 7A last September, which will be added to plot 6A, owned by the Autonomous Community, in order to make the future university complex a reality.
In relation to this matter, Costa has left the door open to adding two additional plots to the plan, purchased by the Fundación Bit last year, to strengthen the UIB implementation project in ParcBit.
Innovation policy and support for research
The councillor also appeared before the Commission to detail the status of public policies to drive innovation, research, knowledge transfer and the diversification of the economic model in the Balearic Islands.
In his appearance, requested by the PSIB, Costa highlighted actions already under way, such as the increase in the amount of aid aimed at companies and clusters, the launch of the Centro de Supercomputación e Inteligencia Artificial de Baleares (BSAI) and the plan to retain companies in ParcBit, which includes the creation of housing and the improvement of internal connectivity.
He also mentioned the activity of the Unit for Accelerating Strategic Projects, the development of the Govern data space, the Balearic cybersecurity strategy and the strengthening of digital manufacturing laboratories.
"We are interested in ensuring that the infrastructures generate opportunities that connect the university, the administration and research, and that they enable the development of projects that today require technological capabilities far greater than those we had until now", he emphasized.
The head of Economy has admitted that “there is still a lot to be done,” although he has emphasized that at this time the Balearic Islands has “more instruments, more infrastructures, more resources and more projects” to move forward with the transformation of the model.
From the PSIB, the MP Carles Bona has reproached, among other aspects, the lack of execution of a “significant part” of the funds intended for innovation and the delay in the call for grants for the clusters of 2026.
Along the same lines, the Vox MP Patricia de las Heras has urged the Govern to set a stable schedule so that the calls for grants are published at the start of each financial year, and has asked whether amounts committed from previous years are still pending to be paid.
On the other hand, the MÉS per Mallorca MP Lluís Apesteguia has recalled that in 2024 spending on research and development in the Balearic Islands was 0.4 percent of GDP and has also pointed to “low budget execution.”
The Més per Menorca MP Josep Castells has said that he misses an integral regional strategy to strengthen the capacities for research, innovation and development, in addition to calling for “much more investment in a systematic way.”
As for the delay in the grants for the clusters, Costa has reiterated his apologies and explained that it was due to the extension of the budgets. At the same time, he has cast doubt on whether this delay is behind the file for the temporary employment regulation measure (ERTE) of the Clúster Biotecnológico y Biomédico de Baleares.
The minister has added that his department analyzed the option of creating a public technology center, but ultimately ruled it out after finding that “the projects don’t deliver.” However, he has specified that the Govern would be willing to participate if the center were promoted from the private initiative.
Debate about human pressure in summer
In another matter, the vice president himself has insisted that the increase in the human pressure index during the summer months is mainly due to the increase in the resident population, pointing out that tourist overnight stays have fallen.
In response to questions from the socialist Carles Bona, Costa has defended that “there is no doubt” that demographic growth is the determining factor of the “human pressure index.”
"If the human pressure index increases and overnight stays go down, it can only be attributed to the growth of residents," he has emphasized, while at the same time accusing the socialists of "lying" because "they don't like it because it dismantles the discourse."
Bona, for his part, has accused the regional Executive of offering "different explanations every time a new figure is published" about human pressure and has demanded "coherence."