A joint investigation by the National Police narcotics squad in Palma and the Tax Agency has led to the interception of a yacht off Cartagena (Murcia) and the seizure of 4,760 kilos of hashish. Two people are currently under arrest – two Bulgarian crew members, one of whom has previously been arrested in the Balearics.

When the Floriana was 67 miles off Cartagena, agents from the Customs Surveillance Service (part of the Tax Agency) boarded the yacht and found the bales of hashish.

Drugs were being moved between Mallorca and Ibiza, and it was a court of instruction in Ibiza which authorised the search. There were 139 bales in all for what is one of the largest seizures in recent years resulting from an investigation directly related to the Balearics.

The drugs gang changed the name and flag of the yacht in order to try and evade police controls. It is the same organization which was last year at the centre of the seizure of more than four tonnes of hashish.

A second clean-up day at the Marina wetland in Magalluf resulted in the collection of 230 kilos of waste. This comprised 70 kilos of glass, 25 kilos of tin cans and plastic containers, 90 kilos of general refuse, and 45 kilos of junk.

A volunteer operation, it was organised by Calvia town hall’s environment and ecological transition department and had the cooperation of the Cruz Roja (Red Cross), the ministry of the environment’s species protection service and the Estel de Llevant association for mental health.

The Marina wetland is classified as a critical biological area, and Rafel Sedano, Calvia’s councillor for the environment and ecological transition, stressed the importance of the initiative to clean up a protected area and aid biodiversity in the wetland.

The action was part of the European Week for Waste Reduction. As well as cleaning up this area of ​​special biological interest, an aim was to raise awareness of environmental protection issues in respect of waste.

Francina Armengol, president of the Balearics and general secretary of PSOE in the Balearics, opened the party’s 14th congress on Saturday with a clear message of preparing for a third term in office at the election in 2023.

Armengol was speaking to 270 party members at the meeting in Inca. The congress will approve the party’s general manifesto for the coming years and the leadership of the party.

More than just looking for a third term, Armengol said that PSOE will address the next decade. The slogan of the congress is “we are the present and we make the future”.

She observed that when she became general secretary in 2012, PSOE were in opposition. “Now we are the first force in the country.”

Representing PSOE from the national government was minister for the presidency, Félix Bolaños, who praised the management of the Balearic government and Armengol for having created a party that is “in good shape”.

* Francina Armengol has been president of the Balearics since 2015. PSOE have required coalitions, first with Més and the support of Podemos, who were not part of the government in 2015, and then with Més and Podemos from 2019.