The PP abstained from voting on the proposal to limit vehicle entry into Mallorca, presented by the PSOE at Tuesday's extraordinary plenary session of the Council of Mallorca – the PSIB had registered a bill in the Parliament. Interestingly, thethe socialists It consists of the same text that the president of the Council of Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, publicly presented on June 13, with the sole exception of a reference to the transfer of public transport powers, currently held by the Balearic Government, to the island institution. It also raises the possibility of financing sustainable mobility policies with an ecotax.

The Consell will allocate €1.2 million to install 250 cameras in Mallorca (125 license plate readers and 125 surveillance cameras) with the aim of obtaining more data on the origin and type of cars before limiting the number of vehicles on the island. This comes after having already paid a load study which was presented in October 2024 and which states that almost 400,000 vehicles entered Mallorca in 2023. The island councilor for Territory, Mobility and Infrastructure, Fernando Rubio, has justified that the data extracted will allow "a much more detailed load study, with data, and will reassure the sector of It's expensive. who has requested it and it's understandable that they want more specific data."

The three shipping companies The companies that handle freight, passenger, and vehicle traffic in the Balearic Islands (Trasmed, Baleària, and GNV) believe that vehicle restrictions in Mallorca should be implemented "based on rigor, data, and dialogue," according to Baleària's president, Alfonso Utor, who spoke on Thursday after meeting with the Consell de Mallorca (Mallorca Council). He added that the three companies are fully and completely willing to collaborate with the island institution to "find solutions to the island's traffic congestion problems." "We are ready to collaborate with public officials in any way they request," he emphasized.

Traffic chaos is now part of daily life in Mallorca. And winter and summer are becoming increasingly indistinguishable. The deseasonalization that was so desired for years, along with the progressive purchase of properties by foreigners, has made the difference between high and low season increasingly insignificant: traffic jams are a recurring problem. According to data from the Consell de Mallorca (Mallorca Council), residents own more than 800,000 cars, while 380,000 arrive annually, primarily for tourism. There is a growing consensus on the need to limit vehicle access to Mallorca, as the Pitiusas Islands have done, and the People's Party (PP) in the Consell presented its proposal a year and a half ago. How is it possible that it has not yet been approved?

The Balearic Islands Tourist Accommodation Association (Habtur) is concerned that vehicle restrictions in Mallorca could create "more problems getting to their accommodations" for tourists staying in holiday rentals, according to the association's manager, Maria Gibert. She described Mallorca's public transport network as "deficient." "Tourists staying in agriturismos need a car to get there because they're in a tourist area or staying in a town that doesn't have good public transport access," she emphasized. She added that "depending on the type of measure" proposed in the regulations, "it could benefit large hotel chains because, in a way, it would draw tourists to the big hotels and would also harm complementary services." In this regard, she explained that "a large hotel can charter a bus to the premises" because "it's in their interest for tourists to spend money there and not go out to eat at a restaurant."

The PSIB (Socialist Party of the Balearic Islands) has registered a proposed law in the Balearic Parliament and the Council of Mallorca to regulate vehicle access and promote sustainable mobility on the island, citing the "inaction" of the island institution, according to a party statement. The initiative registered by the Socialists is the same text that the President of the Council of Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, publicly presented on June 13th, about which nothing has been heard since, the statement notes. The Secretary General of the Socialist Federation of Mallorca, Amanda Fernández, has called for the swift processing of the legislation so that it can come into effect next summer. "We've gone three years without taking any action, and we have nothing six months after presenting the law. We don't know if it's due to incompetence or a desire not to upset certain interests," Fernández criticized. "The PP only talks about roads. They have again requested a meeting with the Secretary of State to discuss roads, with a list that they haven't even agreed upon with the other parties," said Catalina Cladera, spokesperson for the PSOE in the Consell de Mallorca.

Baleària has criticized the restriction on vehicles for maritime transport, considering the impact to be "zero" and unnecessarily punishing the sector and forcing shipping companies to make adjustments.

The shipping companyBaleariahas filed a lawsuit against the Ibiza Council's March 28th resolution on the Law on Vehicle Traffic Control on the island and has requested the annulment of the restriction. In the document, the shipping company asks the judge to raise a question of constitutionality, considering that this regulation "violates the fundamental rights of equality and mobility."

If the People's Party (PP) of the Consell de Mallorca wants to obtain the support of the PSIB (Socialist Socialist Workers' Party) to push through the bill to limit rental cars on the island, "it will have to open a space for negotiation," warned the Socialist spokesperson in the island institution, Catalina Cladera. According to her, this space "has not yet been opened" and the PP has not discussed with the PSOE how to implement the limitation. As Cladera explained to ARA Baleares, the Consell's governing team and the technicians have met twice with all the parties they have representation in to "explain the technical criteria" of the regulation.

Menorca will limit the number of vehicles allowed on the island at one time to 120,000, including those belonging to residents—for whom no limit will be set—and those belonging to visitors, which vary each year depending on the number of cars owned by Menorcans.