Traffic congestion and how to tackle it has become as major headache in the Balearics.
To take a vehicle to Formentera a special permit is needed and Ibiza wants to introduce a similar scheme while in Mallorca the emphasis is on the greater use of public transport and fewer hire cars.
In Minorca, public parking managers are going to be ordering an average of 1,000 vehicles a day to turn around during the months of July and August because there simply is not enough room in the authorised parking areas.
Minorca’s director of transport, Damià Moll, said on Monday: “Ninety per cent are rented vehicles trying to gain access; we Minorcans have changed our mentality and we are using public transport more and more.”
Moll said that ‘applatja’, the application that provides information on the status of car parks, was created to meet public demand and with the aim of being a useful tool for residents and tourists, especially in the high season months to check on parking spaces at the beaches. He stressed that this will prevent the uncontrolled emission of polluting gases and saturation on the roads.
“During the four years we have been working on the project, wifi has been installed in all the zones and the parking managers will be able to count the number of vehicles entering and leaving at any given moment. This information will be uploaded quickly and, using three colours, users will know whether or not it is a good option to go to a certain beach by car."