Out Of Sight ... The Balearics

Luis de Guindos, Spain's minister for the economy and competitiveness, was in Palma on Monday. The five-star Hotel Valparaiso was the setting for a conference to which he had been invited as a speaker. Its theme was "the keys to economic recovery in Spain". Perhaps Sr. de Guindos would have marvelled at one key to this recovery. He was standing inside it. The Valparaiso has been bought by Chinese investors.

The minister was able to explain how Spain was now on the cusp of economic recovery, the keys having already been partially turned, and the attendees were able to hang on his every word. And my, what attendees they were. Abel Matutes, one-time minister for foreign affairs and owner of the Ibiza-based Palladium Hotel Group; two from the family Fluxá - Lorenzo of Camper and Juan Antonio from Lottusse; the director-general for Santander Bank in Spain; members of the regional government; the director-general of Endesa in the Balearics; bosses of Alcampo and El Corte Inglés; representatives of business associations, such as the Chamber of Commerce. The great and good came to hear what Sr. de Guindos had to say and, for the most part, they were happy with his words.

But they weren't totally happy. Abel Matutes noted that de Guindos could have offered greater recognition of the Balearics. The president of the Balearics Business Confederation said much the same, as did the vice-president of Harinas de Mallorca, the flour makers. In a way, their remarks reflected the tensions which are apparent at governmental level. The regional government has its issues with Madrid over financing, as it does over oil prospecting. These are issues which further reflect a longstanding grievance in Mallorca and the Balearics; that the islands contribute much to the overall Spanish economy but are too easily disregarded or ignored. And such ignorance can lead to the occasional gaffe. Let us not forget Mariano Rajoy having referred to the "island of Palma".

This grievance may be purely one of perception, but might there be more to it? The Balearics have deputies in the national parliament. The islands have the odd representative within the upper echelons of governmental administration, such as the tourism secretary-of-state Isabel Borrego, but she isn't a cabinet minister, and when one looks at the background of the current cabinet, one begins to understand why there might indeed be more to the grievance than simply a perception of neglect.

Including prime minister Mariano Rajoy, the cabinet comprises fourteen ministers. Of this fourteen, four of the current incumbents are from Madrid: José Manuel García-Margallo, foreign affairs: Rafael Catalá, justice; José Ignacio Wert, education; and de Guindos. Three more - the vice-president Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, the interior minister Jorge Fernández and the minister for agriculture and the environment Isabel García - are all originally from the historic city of Valladolid in Castile and Leon, some 180 kilometres to the north-west of Madrid. Ana Pastor, the minister for development, is from Zamora, west of Valladolid.

But not hailing from Madrid itself has not stopped Sáenz de Santamaría having been a deputy for Madrid or Cristobal Montoro, the finance minister (from Jaén in Andalusia), having represented Madrid in Congress. Then there are the three ministers who have left the cabinet over the course of this administration: all from Madrid.

To these one has to take into account Rajoy from Galicia, where Ana Pastor was once the regional minister of health and José Wert was a deputy for La Coruña, and the two Basques - the ministers for defence and health, Pedro de Morenes and Alfonso Alonso Aranegui.

There are, therefore, only two ministers who are not part of a Madrid, Castile, Galicia and Basque elite of interconnection that resonates with the history of power in Spain. Madrid itself; the region of Castile which in essence was to create Spain and where, in the city of Valladolid, Isabel of Castile married Ferdinand of Aragon; Galicia, the region of Franco's birth and of Santiago de Compostela, the Saint James centre of Spain's religiosity; the Basque Country, historically one of the principal regions for banking and industry.

One of the two "outsiders" is José Manuel Soria, the minister for tourism, industry and energy, and thus Isabel Borrego's boss. He is from Las Palmas in Gran Canaria, as far from Madrid as it is possible to get. He is from the "other" islands, but he is not welcome in the Balearic Islands because of the oil issue. It might be said that he has gone Madrid native in disregarding Balearic sensitivities over oil.

When one considers the cabinet make-up, one can see why there might be more than just perception at work. This might equally apply to other regions of Spain, but those regions are closer to home; home being Madrid. Too little recognition of the Balearics? It might not be all that surprising.