Balearic president embraces evicted woman during parliamentary housing debate in Palma

Parliamentary confrontation over housing

During the parliamentary plenary session in Palma on 6 October 2026, housing affordability dominated debate as the regional opposition confronted Balearic President Marga Prohens. Iago Negueruela, spokesperson for the Socialist Party of the Balearic Islands, opened the exchange by questioning whether citizens or investment funds held greater priority under regional policies. Negueruela directed attention toward 65-year-old resident Pilar López, who sat in the public gallery after losing the apartment she had rented since 2012. The Socialist spokesperson urged Prohens to face López directly.

You said that vulture funds have no influence in the Balearics, but I would like you to look to the left and say that to Pilar. She spent 40 years working in hospitality only for you to tell her now that her eviction has nothing to do with vulture funds, even though you have not lifted a finger. You have no empathy for her and you choose vulture funds, you sit with them and you make pacts with them. But you will never sit with their victims.

Gallery exchange and emotional reaction

Prohens responded from the podium by defending regional governance and attributing evictions to national legislation enacted in Madrid. She accused the Socialist opposition of exploiting personal hardship for political gain rather than resolving structural legal deficiencies.

Evictions are regrettable and they happen because your laws permit them. You speak about vulture funds because it looks very good and you instrumentalize the pain of anyone because you have no shame.

Following the exchange, Prohens walked over to the public gallery to address López. López, who previously spoke before the Palma City Council, told the president that she had voted for her. Prohens told López that the opposition was using her, and pushed away Socialist deputy Óscar Lamín when he attempted to escort López out. Prohens and López embraced before López left the hall in tears alongside members of the Mortgage Victims Platform (PAH) of Mallorca.

Testimony on elder vulnerability

López returned to the parliament building shortly afterward to address reporters with PAH Mallorca spokesperson Ángela Pons. She recounted her eviction by an investment fund, which forced her to sleep in her car for two months during the summer. López rejected assertions that her presence served party interests.

This is not about political ideas. I am not being used. I am 65 years old, I have worked since I was 14. I am a single mother providing for a daughter who is 33 years old and also has no opportunity to have a home.

López also criticized regional housing initiatives for focusing exclusively on young people while overlooking older workers and pensioners. She noted that 40 years in hospitality and her dependent status left her with few options in the private rental market.

Regional market pressures and pending legislation

The confrontation occurred as the Balearic Parliament prepared to debate a Socialist proposal to declare the archipelago a stressed housing zone. The governing Popular Party and Vox oppose the measure, which would apply rental price caps under national statutes. Ahead of the session, trade unions CCOO and UGT demonstrated outside parliament to demand caps on housing costs. Data from the Observatori de l'Habitatge de Balears shows residential rent prices rose 91% over five years. Property prices in the archipelago now exceed 4,000 euros per square meter, the highest rate among Spain's autonomous communities.