The PP and PSOE agree against the clock for Menorca to limit vehicle entry in 2027

CiutadellaMenorca will limit car entry from June 1, 2027. This is the common objective of the PP and the PSOE, who have hastily agreed to modify the Biosphere Reserve Law to make it possible. For various reasons, Més per Menorca and the renegade Vox councilor have voted against it.

The unprecedented pact between the popular and socialist parties has made it possible to save the announced restriction on vehicle entry that other islands are already processing and which was in danger in Menorca due to the minority situation of the island government. An impediment that the PP has managed to overcome after postponing the plenary session for 48 hours and negotiating the 19 amendments presented by the socialist group at breakneck speed.

Among these, it stands out that citizens from the rest of the Balearic Islands will not be exempt from the limitation in Menorca, even though the PP's initial proposal in the government did establish this. The PSOE has imposed this change from the opposition in order to align it with what is dictated by the restriction already in force in Formentera and those proposed by Ibiza and Mallorca.

“We want all citizens of the Balearic Islands to have free access to enter each island, but there must be reciprocity on this point,” reasoned the socialist councilor Edu Robsy, who has committed the popular party to urging parliamentary groups to modify the laws being processed for Ibiza and Mallorca in the same way. The urgent processing of the law modification is also requested, and the creation of a monitoring committee is approved, which will meet every two months and will also include Més per Menorca and the non-attached councilor, despite their contrary vote.

“A good agreement is uncomfortable for everyone,” remarked Robsy, who regretted that it had to be the PSOE who led the negotiation when, in theory, it is the PP from the government that should have sought the agreement to guarantee the approval of the proposal. But – the minister insisted – “building consensus is good for the people of Menorca” and he relied on “the exercise of responsibility and institutional sense” of his group to justify reaching out for an agreement.

The reproaches of Més and Vox

The support of the PSOE has motivated the strong criticism of the spokesperson for Més per Menorca, Noemi Garcia, who has reproached the socialists for their “political opportunism” and for having “fallen into the PP’s trap”. Garcia reiterated that “political will has been lacking”, that it is “innecessary” to modify the law and that, with this processing, “we run the risk of losing decision-making capacity from Menorca”.

On the contrary, President Adolfo Vilafranca replied, emphasizing that his government has preferred to initiate the modification of the law from Menorca instead of doing it directly in Parliament. Furthermore, the popular politician reproached Més per Menorca for having “voluntarily stayed out of the agreement. The limitation on vehicle entry will apply despite their vote. Managing is building consensus and whoever is left out destroys.”

Vilafranca said that “the political intervention in the modification of the law has been residual”, that it has been based on technical criteria and that the only purpose that moves them is that “the limitation be effective in 2027, and with all legal guarantees”.

Although he insisted that “the PP’s main objective is to improve the roads”, he showed himself to be in favor of “making tourism activity compatible with Menorca’s real capacity”. With this intention, the modification has been promoted, which exempts from the limitation only the cars of those registered in Menorca, those who own a home there, those who have to travel there for work or professional reasons, people with reduced mobility, taxis, public transport, and goods.

All non-exempt vehicles will require prior authorization, as will a quota, not yet determined, of the fleet of car rental companies, which will be the sector that suffers most from the entry restriction. The insular Council itself will approve each year or every two years the ceiling of vehicles that can fit on the island, a control that will be carried out in collaboration with the shipping companies operating in the ports of Maó and Ciutadella.

The change of position by the PP, which in 2023 distanced itself from the Biosphere Reserve Law and did not commit to the limitation in its electoral program, has been heavily criticized by the two left-wing groups, but also by the expelled Vox councilor Maite de Medrano.

“Once again, the PP has bought into the narrative of the far-left and its cronies, the GOB and company, making it seem, with the help of the media too, that restricting vehicle entry is a clamor from the people of Menorca”, De Medrano criticized. “The right once again yields to the left’s narrative when the culprits are not the vehicles – he highlighted – but rather that services and infrastructure are not increased at the same pace as the population. The problem is not wanting to dualize the road and not wanting to do anything other than adopt measures that increase bureaucracy and costs for citizens”.

The renegade councilor believes that not allowing all cars in “is bad for the people of Menorca, for progress, and for the environment. It is surrendering to the far-left, which bases everything on prohibiting, controlling, and sanctioning”. De Medrano remarked that “my hand remains extended to the PP, but not to continue doing what sadly has us accustomed to: saying one thing when in opposition and doing the opposite when in government”.