The restrictions on tourism in Menorca remain just words.

CitadelThis summer, no concrete measures will be implemented to curb overcrowding and limit the arrival of tourists and cars to Menorca during peak season. Neither the updated Island Territorial Plan (PTI) nor the new tourism capacity ceiling, set at 107,917 beds in the preliminary carrying capacity study, have yet been approved. And this despite the fact that the influx of visitors continues to increase not only during the summer but also outside of peak season. In fact, 2025 was the first year in which the number of registered residents on the island never fell below 100,000, not even in December. Even so, the People's Party (PP) team, which governs the Menorca Island Council in minority with the external support of the councilor expelled from Vox, will still lack the necessary physical and legal mechanisms to restrict vehicle traffic. The PP's repeated announcements throughout its term have remained just that: words, not actions. It will likely be the last island to take measures to restrict access and limit congestion, although it is also the only one that, for the past three years, has had a legal tool to do so: the Biosphere Reserve Law, approved in 2023 by the Balearic Parliament. Nine months ago, last June, the Consell (Island Council) presented the study that was supposed to determine the number of excess vehicles on the road network. The conclusion surprised everyone, as it set the limit at 120,000 cars, while the maximum daily traffic recorded on Menorca's roads in 2024 was 122,170 vehicles, only 1.8% above this limit.

The figure, which includes both the vehicle fleet of the resident population and the fleet of vehicles that arrives at the ports of Ciutadella and Maó, has already been refuted by both environmentalists and the rental companies themselves (It's expensive.), disagreeing with the idea of ​​limiting their entry "without a real diagnosis".

Since residents have about 86,000 vehicles, there would still be room for 34,000 for visitors until reaching the new limit of 120,000 set by the Consell. Of these, the It's expensive. They call it moving a maximum of 13,000 during peak season, but in the port of Ciutadella alone, 200,000 disembark throughout the year, an average of 600 per day.

Year zero and no tender

In any case, the Consell government has taken its first steps to, at least initially, have access to all vehicles entering the island through the commercial ports of Maó and Ciutadella. However, the internal report justifying the need to contract the installation of automatic license plate recognition cameras at Menorca's ports speaks of a "progressive implementation" of restrictions on vehicle arrivals. The technical proposal makes it clear that in this "year 0," only "real data on incoming vehicle flows" will be collected and analyzed in order to carry out, "in a later phase, effective access control, once the corresponding regulatory framework is deployed." The contract, which consists of the supply and installation of the equipment, including functional testing and system commissioning, has a cost of less than 15,000 euros. But for now, the bidding process has been declared void and the tender has been suspended pending the necessary authorizations from the Port Authority and Ports of the Balearic Islands, which have yet to specify the exact location where the equipment must be installed. Although the Consell invited three companies to submit bids, one of them (Tradesegur) has not done so, and the bids submitted by the other two (Saima and Caitba) are not considered valid or do not meet all the requirements set by the island administration. Caitba's bid does not cover both the construction work and the necessary electrical installation. Double 'no' in Parliament and in the Council

A few days ago, Parliament rejected, with votes against from the PP and Vox parties, the bill presented by the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) aimed at implementing the restriction this year to reduce the influx of private vehicles and the resulting "risks, impacts, and saturation." The Socialists wanted the regulations to be approved immediately, including a system of penalties to ensure compliance and "improve the quality of life for residents," but the PP opposed it. This is a contradiction, according to MP Marc Pons, who doesn't understand how the party in power in Palma and Menorca could have passed similar laws in Formentera and Ibiza. However, as MP Josep Castells (Más per Menorca) points out, the island already has a specific law, the Biosphere Reserve Law, which allows for limiting car access. Regulations that the previous left-wing government in the Consell and the Parliament already approved in 2023, but which have not yet been implemented in this regard. "The limitation begins this year," both President Adolfo Vilafranca and Popular Party deputy Jordi López Ravanals point out, without specifying that, in reality, the measures being prepared for this summer will consist, in principle, only of collecting data and not of imposing restrictions. The debate will be raised again this Monday in the island council meeting, where Més per Menorca is defending a proposal to urge the PP government to "immediately approve a system for regulating and limiting vehicles that can be applied during this season." To make this possible, Menorcans are requesting a maximum limit on the number of vehicles allowed to access or circulate on the island's roads during peak season, and the launch of an information campaign to ensure its proper implementation. They also intend for a commission, comprised of representatives from the island's political groups and socioeconomic stakeholders, including those who support this restriction, to be formed. The proposal has already been approved by the committee, with the People's Party (PP) abstaining.