<![CDATA[Ara Balears in English - sustainable mobility]]> 10 <![CDATA[Mobility stopped, forgotten villages]]> Talking about sustainable mobility in Mallorca is talking about safety, public services, and quality of life. It is talking about having real alternatives to private vehicles to go to work, study, go to the doctor, or simply travel between towns. But, today, for many municipalities in the Part Forana, this alternative is becoming increasingly difficult.The Consell de Mallorca and the Government of the Balearic Islands have made sustainable mobility a secondary issue. Announcements are piling up, but actions are not keeping pace. And when there are insufficient investments or services, the first to suffer are small municipalities and their residents.In Santa Eugènia we have a very clear example with the two civic roads that are to connect the municipality with its surroundings. It was announced that these actions would be finished before the end of 2025. It is 2026 and not only are they not executed, but we do not even have the definitive project yet. When an infrastructure considered a priority does not go beyond the announcement, it is legitimate to ask what has happened and, above all, when the commitment is intended to be fulfilled.Another example can be found in the Pujada a Lluc a peu from the Part Forana. An activity that mobilizes hundreds of people every year and has an important sporting, social, and cohesion component among the municipalities. Initially, the insular council had assumed the cost of the participants' t-shirts. Now, however, this expense falls on the town councils, which also have to face the cost of the buses and a good part of the organization.We cannot overlook what this means for a small town hall. Every euro that is allocated to cover an expense that was previously borne by another administration is a euro that cannot be dedicated to other municipal needs. And this lack of support for towns also becomes evident in public transport. The regular connection with Santa Maria has disappeared and the available service continues to present significant shortcomings. The frequencies to Palma are insufficient for the needs of many users, and the capacity of the vehicles also does not adapt to demand. Furthermore, incidents with the buses themselves are frequent and end up directly affecting users, who find themselves with an unreliable service and no alternatives when these situations occur.Mallorca needs a mobility policy that takes into account the reality of all municipalities and does not concentrate efforts solely on certain areas of the island. Mobility cannot be relegated to the main urban centers or tourist areas. It must also reach the villages of the Part Forana, with quality public transport, adequate connections, and safe infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists.If we want to reduce the number of cars on the roads, we must first ensure that citizens have alternatives that are useful, frequent, and reliable. We cannot ask people to leave their cars at home if public transport does not allow them to get to work, studies, or services with guarantees.The consequences of not acting are evident: more vehicles on the roads, more traffic jams, more pollution, and more difficulties for citizens to choose more sustainable forms of transport. Talking about climate change and, at the same time, not strengthening public transport or advancing necessary infrastructure is a contradiction that is difficult to justify.Mobility is also a matter of territorial equality. Living in a town cannot mean having fewer opportunities to get to work, study, go to the doctor, or participate in social life. The municipalities of the Part Forana need their needs to be heard and for investments and services to arrive with the same determination as in other areas of the island.Therefore, we need more public transport, more frequencies, better connections between municipalities, and safe infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists. And, above all, the commitments announced by institutions must translate into projects, works, and services.The people of Mallorca do not ask for preferential treatment. They ask that the acquired commitments be fulfilled, that government by announcements cease, and that institutions commit decisively to modern, efficient, and sustainable mobility.It is time to move from announcements to facts. To stop considering people's mobility as a secondary issue and start understanding it for what it is: an essential service and a fundamental piece for building a more cohesive, safer, and more sustainable Mallorca.Because mobility cannot be abandoned. And neither can peoples.

]]> <![CDATA[The Balearic Islands have become an airport: passenger numbers have grown by 75% in 24 years]]>

The Balearic Islands are celebrating Sustainable Mobility Day with staggering figures. The three island airports – Palma (PMI), Ibiza (IBZ), and Menorca (MAH) – have registered an overall increase of 75% in passenger numbers over the last quarter century. Between 2000 and 2024, total passengers rose from 26.67 million to 46.54 million, the most significant increase among Spanish airports. These figures confirm what many experts have been denouncing for years: the environmental "unsustainability" of the island's economic model, which bases its income on the increase in the number of visitors, with the highest growth rate in the entire country. As for passenger traffic by sea, the figures have almost doubled in less than 20 years. Regular passenger traffic has increased from 3.9 million in 2010 to 7.4 million in 2024, while the 2.5 million cruise passengers represent an increase of one million people between 2010 and 2024.

]]> <![CDATA[Vox torpedoes the PP's car restrictions on Mallorca: "No Spaniard should pay a fee to enter the island."]]>

Although the plans of the president of the Consell, Llorenç Galmés, were to have the bill approved this autumn to try to control the influx of vehicles to Mallorca and send it to the Parliament, the text still does not have sufficient political support in the Consell de Mallorca. The party that most opposes it is Vox, to the point that for the moment it makes it unthinkable that the PP can count on its votes. "We cannot accept in any way that a fee is imposed on Spanish citizens to enter Mallorca with their car. No Spaniard should pay a fee to enter the island," explained the spokesperson for the party to the island institution, Toni Gili, on ARA Baleares.

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