In the Mallorca Council, he dispensed with Vox
Having achieved the important victory of eliminating the bus/hoist lane, like a knight slaying a dragon, the president of the Mallorca Council discovered that the task of defunding the island, as he had promised, was not so simple. The problem went a little deeper than simply eliminating a simple signage that only served (and continues to serve, as European cities with hoist lanes or equivalents know, regardless of left-wing or right-wing governments) to calm traffic in sections that are usually too congested. That was all there was to it, but we live in a time when political polarization can even exacerbate debate on purely technical issues.
The problem of congestion on Mallorcan roads, and in Mallorcan cities, towns, and urban centers, is real and is due to a number of causes, among which one main one stands out: too many cars. There are too many motorized vehicles on the island, in general, and cars in particular. It's not just those brought from outside to rent to tourists (curiously, cars are also called "tourisms"); local vehicles have also been in excess for some time now. The car fleet in the Balearic Islands, and in Mallorca in particular, is quantitatively exaggerated, and it's also old.
The Balearic Islands are now the region with the most cars per inhabitant, specifically 912 cars per 1,000 inhabitants. This figure is much higher than the Spanish average, which is also considered too high, but which is 750 cars per 1,000 inhabitants, according to data from the INE (National Institute of Statistics) and Ibestat (Spanish Institute of Statistics and Geography). In the case of Mallorca, we also now have the study on the load on the island's roads, commissioned by the Consell de Mallorca from the consulting firm CINESI, which also provides very interesting data. Among them, 80% of trips to Mallorca in motorized vehicles are made by residents. Furthermore, in terms of aging, the average age of vehicles in the Balearic Islands is 14.2 years, also too high. Overcrowding in tourism, of course, further complicates matters during the summer months (which actually means from Easter to October 31).
Action is urgently needed, and experts agree on some obvious first steps: improving public transportation, regulating car rentals, and limiting the entry of cars arriving by boat. But here, President Galmés runs into his real problem: he governs with the far-right Vox party, and the far-right Vox party flatly refuses to limit vehicle entry to the island. "No Spaniard should pay a fee to enter Mallorca.", says Toni Gili, spokesperson for Vox in the Consell de Mallorca and author of the phrase according to which granting subsidies to entities that work in favor of Catalan is like spending money "in whores and cocaine". Certainly, each one speaks from his references.
This is a good example of why it never pays to govern with deniers, populists, and neo-fascists. It's not just a question of values and ideological principles (which are also important), but of everyday life, of the daily decisions that directly affect the well-being of citizens. It's extremely difficult to govern when you depend on people who turn their backs on democracy, human rights, and also pure and simple common sense. Galmés is seeking the support of the opposition to limit vehicle entry in Mallorca, and he's right. He would do even better if he dispensed with partners like Vox and governed alone, seeking support when needed through variable geometry. It may seem more difficult, but in the long run it would be more effective. And better for the common good, without a doubt.
