Menorca will only have 2,170 cars left on the roads.
The new limit set by the Consell at 120,000 vehicles circulating simultaneously on the road network will have little effect, as it will only restrict the entry to the island of 3,000 foreign or rental cars.
CitadelWhile there are 122,000 excess cars in Mallorca, there are only 2,170 in Menorca. The recently presented study on the carrying capacity of Menorcan roads proposes only a 1.8% reduction in vehicle traffic compared to last year. This measure has almost no impact and clashes head-on with the study conducted by the left in 2023, shortly before losing the island's government, which estimated the excess number of cars on the road network in summer at 30%. Furthermore, the limitation will not begin to be applied until next summer, although Article 28 of the Biosphere Reserve Law has empowered Menorca to take measures in this regard for three years.
The new limit set by the load study conducted by the company Cinesi establishes that no more than 120,000 vehicles can cross the road at once in Menorca. The 86,023 resident population already registered on the island is being respected, and only about 3,000 of the more than 36,000 arriving by sea or through rental companies are being restricted. However, the restriction is so meager that in only two of the last five years since the pandemic (2022 and 2024) have more cars been registered in Menorca than will be allowed to circulate simultaneously between June and September 2026. Last year there were 122,170.
225,000 daily trips
Cinesi recorded up to 225,197 daily intercity trips to the island during the week of August 5-11 last year, of which 120,723—practically half—were made by residents. The largest number of trips by the island's population is concentrated between Maó and es Castell, with 64,711 daily trips, while the number of tourists who travel by car the most in summer is in Ciutadella, with 32,244 daily trips.
The significant increase in traffic at the port of Ciutadella, the main gateway for vehicles to the island, explains the growing congestion on Menorca's roads. More than 93,000 vehicles disembark, 34,000 more than before the pandemic. 22,000 arrive in Mahón, and an estimated 13,000 rental cars are circulating on the road network.
The main traffic congestion occurs at the access points to Ciutadella and Mahón via the main road, which in the middle of August handles more than 24,000 cars daily. The roads to some beaches are also congested, especially the unspoiled ones south of Ciutadella, where the Local Police recommend prohibiting vehicle access and offering shuttle buses as an alternative, as is already done to get to Macarella or Favaritx.
Council President Adolfo Vilafranca defends the "rigor" of the study and contrasts it with the legacy of the previous left-wing government, which made no distinction between tourist and resident traffic. However, the new document "protects residents and their daily mobility needs and guarantees a balance between economic activity and sustainability."
Cameras in the ports
A technological system with cameras installed in the ports of Mahon and Ciutadella and other strategic points along the road network will read the license plates of all vehicles entering the island. Rental companies will also have to notify the entries and exits of their fleet, so that unregistered vehicles will receive automatic fines.
The Consell will begin processing the regulations now so that action can be taken within 11 months, but the Minister of Mobility, Juan Manuel Delgado, advances that the implementation of this new vehicle limit will be "progressive" and will be accompanied by measures to encourage the use of public transport.
"There is no political will," concludes Esteve Barceló, spokesperson and coordinator of Més per Menorca. "More than three years have been wasted to, in the end, end up implementing a completely insufficient measure that only reduces 3,147 foreign vehicles compared to current traffic levels," he criticizes.
"What good will this restriction do if it doesn't actually reduce the number of vehicles that have already been on Menorca in recent summers?" asks Pepe Mercadal. The MP and Secretary General of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) challenges the PP government's claim that the new study is "useless" and insists on reaching a consensus on a proposed regulation to expedite its processing and ensure its implementation can begin next season.
The feeling of collapse will continue, emphasizes the GOB (Spanish Workers' Party), which in recent years has promoted initiatives through the Via Menorca platform to demand drastic measures against overcrowding in the island. But the PP's response to the Consell (Spanish Consell) was to commission two studies that practically maintain the same number of vehicles on the roads and allow for an increase of 23,859 new tourist spaces.
