Ciutadella reopens El Born to traffic after 14 and a half months of pedestrianization

PalmaThe City Council of Ciutadella has reopened the Plaça del Born to road traffic this Monday in compliance with the precautionary measures dictated by the court. The decision puts an end to the 14 and a half months in which the space has been pedestrianized and without cars, following the controversial pedestrianization promoted by the council.

Shortly after 7 a.m., the signs prohibiting parking were removed and, in approximately one hour, all available parking spaces were occupied.

The reopening, however, does not imply the exact recovery of the configuration prior to the pedestrianization. The Mayor of Ciutadella, Maria Jesús Bagur, has justified the elimination of 30 of the 130 parking spaces that existed until July 2023. As she explained, there is an “impossibility of restoring the square 100%” to its previous state.

30 fewer parking spaces

Bagur has pointed out that the validity of the traffic and public highway occupation ordinances, modified to endorse the pedestrianization, prevents the recovery of the paid blue zone and the removal of two of the bar terraces that had been authorized.

Thus, the Plaça des Born has regained road traffic, but it has done so with fewer parking spaces than before the municipal intervention. The execution of the ruling has been challenged by the 22 complaining business owners, so the final decision now remains in the hands of the Contentious-Administrative Court of Palma.

The government defends the benefits of the pedestrianization

The mayor lamented having had to reverse the pedestrianization of the square. Bagur defended that during the 14 months in which Es Born has been without cars it has been demonstrated that the measure has been beneficial for residents, transporters, taxi drivers, and artisans. “A square like this is made for people and not for cars,” she stated.

Despite the reopening, Bagur is confident that the appeal for cassation that the City Council filed in June before the Supreme Court will prosper. In addition, she announced that the government team is “studying” a solution that would allow the square to be emptied of cars again “definitively and with all guarantees.” In this way, the council maintains the will to recover the pedestrianization, even though the Plaça des Born is once again open to traffic while the judicial appeals are resolved.