The vice president and minister of Economy, Treasury and Innovation, Antoni Costa, has stated that the financial health of the Balearic Islands is “frankly positive” and that the Community “has no liquidity problems,” so it is in a position to meet its payment obligations without difficulties.
Costa appeared this Tuesday before the Finance and Budget Commission of the Parlament to detail the General Account of the CAIB corresponding to the 2025 financial year, where he emphasized that the outstanding debt has been reduced year after year since the start of the legislature and that the budget execution rate is “quite good.”
Regarding the capacity or need for financing, he explained that the Community operates in a scenario of zero deficit or even of surplus, a trajectory that the Govern trusts to maintain during 2026 and 2027.
From the opposition, PSIB deputy Llorenç Pou has underscored that in 2025 non-financial income was lower than in 2024, something that surprised him in a context of “strong growth” driven by inflation and by the increase, by about 250 million euros, in the money transferred by the central Government through the autonomous financing system. For that reason, he asked what “structural” problem would explain this drop and what would have happened without that extra contribution from the State.
Pou also accused the Govern representative of “playing” with adjustments to National Accounting and stated that, without these, a real drop in the budget would have occurred, which in 2025 would have reached a “historical maximum” close to 790 million. As he indicated, this situation would have been partially offset by the “inability” of several ministerial departments to execute the 2024 budget, which would have carried over into the 2025 accounts.
The socialist deputy also pointed to “non-implementation” in the management of the funds of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism, activated after the Covid-19 pandemic, warning that its validity is about to end and predicting that the Govern’s investment “will fall sharply.” He also called for an assessment of the projects that have worked and those that have not.
At this point, he has mentioned, among other examples, the Conselleria of Business, Self-Employed Workers and Energy, which would have had a budget of almost 290 million and would not have had about 100; the Conselleria of Housing, with 124 million and 45 not spent; the item for research, with 43 million of which 30 would have been used; or the trade area, with 18 million and only ten made available. He has also cast doubt on the fact that there are no payment problems when the Balearic Islands records the highest average payment period to suppliers in the country.
On Vox’s side, the deputy Patricia de las Heras has defended that the tax cuts approved in this legislature "work" and has stated that, even in inheritances and donations, 20 million more than expected has been collected. She has contrasted this policy with that of the central Government, which, in her view, "raises taxes, borrows without limits and then forgives the debt to the separatist partners in order to stay in power".
Nevertheless, De las Heras has shown her "concern" for the balance of the accounts, reminding that the administration of the CAIB closed 2025 with a negative result of 236 million and an unaffected treasury surplus of -1.600 million, about 172 million less than in 2024. She has also drawn attention to the Community’s long-term debt, above 8.100 million, and to the increase in the cost of interest, money that, she has stressed, "does not go to hospitals, schools or housing".
The parliamentarian has also focused on the increase in spending on staff, which stood at around 2.400 million euros, 11% more, while tax revenue grew by 4.6%. She has attributed this increase to court rulings and improvements in education and healthcare services, although she has centered her criticism on the remuneration of senior executives and temporary staff.
The spokesperson for MÉS per Mallorca, Lluís Apesteguia, has admitted that the Administration has difficulties in executing its budgets and has called for a "deep reflection", although he has cited the case of the ordering and promotion of tourism, where 104% of what had been budgeted would have been executed. By contrast, he has pointed out that the Conselleria of Housing, Territory and Mobility would have executed only around 60%, which, in his view, shows that "either too much is budgeted or very little is carried out".
Apesteguia has linked this diagnosis with a criticism of the Govern’s administrative simplification measures, which, as he has pointed out, “have not helped” to improve spending execution. He has also focused on the CAIB’s revenues from the tax on property transfers and documented legal acts, which have exceeded the initial forecast by 100 million, something he has linked to the “astronomical figures” that are paid for the multimillion-dollar homes acquired by non-residents.
The ecosovereigntist spokesperson warned that one out of every eight euros that the Community receives comes from the real estate market and cautioned that, if the bubble were to burst one day, the Balearics could face “income problems”.
From Més per Menorca, the deputy Josep Castells stressed that, although a “sound” image of the regional finances is projected, the Community’s historical debt, which burdens the surplus and forces it to keep being financed, cannot be ignored. He also reproached Costa for “boasting” about having reduced the debt by 500 million in recent years when it was done in a “very notable” period of good times—something, in his view, that should have been used to reduce it even further.
In his reply, Costa denied that the decline in non-financial income is due to the adjustments of the National Accounting and attributed it to the final settlement of the regional funding system, which ultimately does not deliver what was expected, a structural problem that he described as a “matter of the first magnitude”. Regarding accounting adjustments, he defended that they are “justified” by the General Comptroller’s Office of the State Administration and that they respond to the translation between budget execution and accrual, often linked to previous fiscal years.
Regarding European funds, the conseller assured that the projects will be maintained with own resources, Feder funds, or the insularity factor, and he cited as an example the “good management” of the Conselleria of Business, Self-Employed and Energy, which would have achieved a high volume of funds for the energy transition.
With regard to payments to suppliers, he pointed to the IbSalut as the main party responsible and insisted that “it is not a liquidity problem”, but a matter of budget execution and contracting, recalling that extraordinary mechanisms have been activated to settle outstanding invoices.
Costa has also acknowledged that non-residents pay a "significant amount" in the inheritance tax, funds that "are returned in services for residents", although he has asked for caution in the face of the possibility of a crisis similar to that of 2010, which could introduce "difficulties" in the collection of the CAIB.