The GOB demands the removal of "illegal jobs" from traffic easements in Mallorca.

PalmThe GOB has demanded the "immediate" removal of all "illegal installations and jobs" from the traffic and protection right-of-way zone on the coast of Mallorca, as well as an audit of the current state of occupation of this strip.

The entity has made this demand following the complaint filed last year for the "repeated and completely illegal" occupation of the protection and traffic right-of-way zone on the Can Picafort coast. This situation, it indicated in a statement, highlights a "serious and sustained institutional disorganization" and constitutes a "threat" to coastal conservation, security, and collective rights.

Following a citizen and technical investigation prompted by that complaint, the GOB has confirmed—according to an inspection report from the Consell de Mallorca from this April—that more than 30 commercial establishments "have been occupying protected areas, traffic easements, and even public maritime domains for years, with no valid authorization since 2016." The entity has warned that, although some occupations have only been formally reported recently, the "lack of control and action" on the part of the administrations has been "absolute for years."

"Only now, in 2025, have some permit applications begun to be processed, while the occupations remain fully operational and visible," they noted. Added to this situation is the organization of a weekly market on the same stretch of right-of-way, as well as the presence of private works and facilities that are not listed.

According to the GOB, the case of Can Picafort "is not an isolated case", but is "can be extrapolated to the entire Balearic coast", and the seriousness of the situation "is accentuated by the absolute confusion of powers between institutions"

The environmental entity has explained that the insular director of Territory, Mobility and Infrastructure, Fernando Rubio, and the insular director of Urbanism and Municipal Planning, Maria José Frau, that "it does not have sanctioning or police powers over the traffic easement", and therefore attributes them to the Ministry of the Sea and the Water Cycle, which in its transfer states verbatim that this is "the competent body" for these actions. The GOB considers that this situation "not only exemplifies a worrying neglect in the specific case of Can Picafort, but also opens the door to the same legal violation throughout the urbanized coast of Mallorca." public and for emergency and security services," they denounced.

The entity recalled that, according to the Coastal Law, the traffic right-of-way zone is a six-meter strip from the inner limit of the seashore towards the ground, which must be free for the passage of pedestrians and rescue vehicles. of this space "obstructs evacuation and rescue routes, reduces accessibility and the right to the coast as a public space, represents a risk to health and safety, and constitutes a flagrant violation of current legislation"

. effective coastal protection and the opening of sanctioning files "against all offenders"