The MÉS candidate for mayor of Palma, David Pujol, denounced this Thursday that the nautical bus project being prepared by the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) and the PP “will bring tourist overcrowding to El Molinar and Portitxol”. In a statement, the party criticized that the project mainly responds to the needs of tourist activity and cruise passengers, instead of addressing the daily mobility problems of residents.

The nautical bus in the Bay of Palma will begin operating on November 1st, after the project was left up in the air due to the withdrawal of the joint venture led by TUI, which had won the tender last March. The Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB) has now opted for a provisional solution to launch the service while it prepares a new tender that will have to guarantee its long-term continuity.

The Palma nautical bus will have to look for another operator before making its first trip. The joint venture led by TUI, selected to provide the service, announced on August 3rd that it was abandoning the procedure. It did so months after having ratified that its proposal was viable and that it would have the necessary vessels and personnel at its disposal. The Balearic Islands Port Authority (APB) is now preparing a new tender, which it plans to bring to the board of directors this September.

The future nautical bus of the port of Palma will have three differentiated lines and the ticket will cost 6 euros per trip. This was explained this Friday by the president of the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB), Javier Sanz, during the presentation of the project, which will be managed for 15 years by a temporary union of companies formed by TUI and MallorcaAventura.