"We are tired of having to pass through an unsafe stream that can be flooded at any moment"

ManacorA little over four months ago, the bridge over the Son Caules stream, which connects the two branches of the Camí de les Pedreres in Manacor, had to be closed indefinitely. The continuous passage of vehicles unsuitable and of great tonnage for the small infrastructure ended up causing the weakening of beams and joists and the appearance of a large hole. Now, and without an effective solution, the residents of the area have collected signatures to demand a response from the City Council, which in return has provided them with an alternative route through the stream, "a section that is unsafe, full of potholes, and when it rains it becomes impossible for us to pass, and therefore, we are left isolated," explains the spokesperson for those affected, Cati Valls.

"Now we are taking action to make visible that we do not agree with the timeline nor with the lack of information they are giving us." As soon as the problem arose, the residents notified both the City Council and the Local Police of Manacor. After a visit from municipal technicians, the officers closed approximately ten meters of the bridge with plastic and concrete barriers and a small flashing light. "They considered that, since we had an alternative to get to Manacor or go around to Felanitx, they could leave it like this, with no deadline," adds Toni Forteza, also affected by the closure.

The hole, approximately one meter in diameter and covered by a yellow plastic sheet and two large stones, hides the evident deterioration of a bridge made of marès beams, designed to support utility vehicles, "but not the large construction trailers that have passed in recent years and have led to this situation".

After a series of private and collective complaints, the City Council agreed to bring a truckload of gravel and spread it on the alternative route, which passes through another section of the Son Caules stream. A provisional solution that the residents reject: "It cannot be that for so many months we have to leave our car tires there to go to Manacor. It reaches a point where it already bothers us to go there. Or simply having to cross to take out the trash. It's quite an adventure".

This alternative passage, moreover, implies another added difficulty: the periodic rains that usually leave the roadbed inoperable and, therefore, also leave the dozens of residents in the area isolated. "There are always two or three times a year, especially at the end of summer, when the water causes the stream to collapse, and it becomes impassable," says Valls, who also complains that the continuous traffic of vehicles on the alternative road has other consequences: "The stone walls are bulging and the road is deteriorating very quickly".

Now, the neighborhood pressure, reinforced by the submission of 135 signatures, has forced the Manacor City Council to commit a sum of 27,000 euros to draw up a project and try to tender and award a work that, theoretically, should be quick and simple. "They have told us that they already have the money, but that they are now awaiting authorization from the Directorate General of Water Resources. We have called them and, indeed, the request has reached them, but they cannot tell us when it will be resolved either…". A bureaucratic loop that the residents have decided to publicly denounce.