Will it be possible to limit vehicle entry in Mallorca before the end of the legislature?

PalmaMallorca is one step closer to being able to limit the entry of vehicles to the island, after the plenary session of the Council approved the law regulating vehicle influx on Friday. The norm must go through Parliament to come into force and cannot be implemented this summer. The question here is whether the president of the insular institution, Llorenç Galmés, will have the law ready for next season, because the legislature could end without the popular leader fulfilling one of his most important commitments. Be that as it may, Mallorca continues to be stuck, as the Council acknowledges in the preamble to the law, where it points out that “the number of tourists Mallorca receives each year has not stopped growing” and that the island “suffers notable and growing pressure on its road structures”.

“Vehicles belonging to non-residents represent a significant increase in the vehicle fleet circulating on our roads,” says the text of the norm, which also emphasizes that “congestion intensifies at points on the network that are already saturated in the low season.” Furthermore, other areas that have no problems in the low season become saturated. “This shows that the increase in traffic not only exceeds the island's population growth, but is directly linked to tourist activity,” it adds.

All parties have expressed their agreement with the diagnosis, even Vox. However, the far-right's solution does not involve regulation but rather adapting infrastructures to the influx of vehicles. In simple terms, building more roads. For their part, the opposition regrets that the law has arrived when the countdown for the last year of the legislature is already underway. Nevertheless, the insular government team expects the norm to be approved in Parliament before the end of June and to be in force before the end of 2026.

However, the president of the Chamber's Board, Gabriel Le Senne, is from Vox, and it cannot be ruled out that the far-right will present an amendment in its entirety to the norm, a situation that would delay its approval. Furthermore, July and August are non-working months – in any case, an extraordinary plenary session could be convened in July. There are also no plenary sessions in January, and Parliament will have to be dissolved 54 calendar days before the regional elections in May, so the timelines for implementing the norm are extremely tight.

A sample of the Council's urgencies is that the law will be effective from its entry into force (the day after publication in the BOIB), without having to wait for the regulation to be developed. “When it comes into force, the fiscal ordinance will be ready. We have prepared ourselves to create an administrative structure and apply the law from minute one,” assured the insular councilor for Territory, Mobility and Infrastructures, Fernando Rubio, on Friday.

What does the law say?

One of the main measures of the law regulating vehicle influx in Mallorca is that the Council will be able to set a vehicle cap, which will determine how many can enter and remain on the island during periods of highest influx. The island institution has not yet provided figures, pending a new load study. Entry restrictions will not apply to temporary workers. As for non-residents who own a home in Mallorca, they will only be able to bring one car.

In addition, the island institution will control rental car fleets, with a maximum number of vehicles in circulation and quotas for companies.

There will be taxes for vehicle entry and stay in Mallorca, and shipping companies will be responsible for collecting them – they will be added to ticket prices – and transferring them to the island Council. The amount of these taxes is not yet known.

Shipping companies will also have to inform passengers of the temporary restrictions on car entry to Mallorca and will have to verify that the vehicles they transport have accreditation for entry and stay on the island – authorized vehicles will have to be identified.

The law includes the creation of the Coordination Commission for Mobility Policies, which will include the Council, the Government, the town councils, and a representation of the State. The island institution is the only one in the Balearic Islands that does not have mobility competences in the hands of the Government – there is no provision for the Executive to transfer these competences. This is where some measures of the law are more a declaration of intent, because the Council does not have the power to decide on this matter, as is the case with the promotion of public transport and the increase of means in times of high demand, for example, and the development of municipal sustainable mobility plans (PMUS) by the town councils.

Regarding sanctions, they will range from 300 to 30,000 euros, depending on whether the infractions are minor, serious, or very serious. Non-residents driving unaccredited vehicles is considered a serious infraction.