I readily concede that buggies and quads are a lot of fun. So why do I find their presence offensive? This isn’t so much to do with the noise - they are not unique in appearing to defy decibel regulations - or with the fact that they form long caravans on roads and thus further add to seasonal traffic. No, it’s not this so much as where they go to.
Across Mallorca there are defined routes for exploration in ways that are environmentally neutral, so long as these routes are kept to - hiking, mountain bikes, horse-riding. For other means of exploration, namely buggies, quads and off-roaders, there aren’t routes, except ones defined by excursions operators. And talking of these, there is one website that greets you with a photo of two buggies on sand in a dunes area. According to the regional ministry of environment, motor vehicles (with the exception of emergency vehicles) are banned from dunes systems and beach areas.
Away from the main roads, these vehicles take lanes and unmade tracks that are unsuitable for the purpose. There is the real risk of environmental damage. In certain areas, such as the Albufera Nature Park, motor vehicles are prohibited. It would be an absurdity if they weren’t, given the ecological importance of the park and the nature of the tracks - really only suitable for cyclists and walkers.
Town halls have been introducing bylaws to cover areas that don’t have protected status, such as the Albufera park. But they are even having to adopt ordinance for areas which in theory are protected. This is the case in Alcudia, where La Victoria and Puig Sant Martí are protected but do attract the buggy excursions. The environment councillor, Tomàs Adrover, says that at Puig Sant Martí there was “a totally illegal circuit with jumps”. In many areas, he adds, the vehicles are driven at very high speeds on unmade tracks, leading to “excessive degradation” of the environment.
Alcudia has outlawed all this. Adrover explains that the town hall would ideally have rural environment agents for controlling vehicles. But that’s not possible at present as there aren’t enough agents - they are within the Ibanat agency, which comes under the environment ministry. The local police will have to be responsible for controls, which therefore makes new regulations a case of how easily they can be enforced; there is a maximum fine of 600 euros.
If these regulations are complied with, where will the excursions go? The buggies and off-roaders have been appearing in recent days, ready to be driven off. But where to?
Mainland electricity cable opposition gathers pace
Ever since objections to the mainland electricity cable started to be made (now around a year ago), I have always felt that these weren’t widely shared across Alcudia. They were largely confined to residents on the bay of Pollensa, so in order for ‘no al cable’ to become more widespread, protests had to be more visible. Well, last weekend’s in the centre of Alcudia was highly visible, and my impression is that much greater attention is being paid to the matter. Scientific it isn’t, but page views on the Bulletin website for a report of the demonstration were far higher than they have been for previous reports.
A unanimous agreement
As was said last weekend, there are people who object to the cable full stop and those who want to ensure that it doesn’t get laid close to people’s homes. There is unanimous agreement that the cable should not enter via the bay of Pollensa. The Balearic and Spanish governments and Red Electrica are going to have to come up with some satisfactory proposal sooner or later, and that, where objectors are concerned, has to mean the bay of Alcudia, where posidonia sea grass is in far greater abundance. A view I’m hearing generally expressed is along the lines of we understand the need to protect the posidonia, but how much could actually be affected? Do other issues, such as the natural heritage in the area of S’Illot, not take priority?
Pollensa outdoing Alcudia with smoke-free beaches
The police in Alcudia, like with police everywhere, face ever-increasing demands on their time. Controlling buggies is one such extra demand, but for now they will not be going after anyone caught smoking on a smoke-free beach.
The Beaches Without Smoke initiative was launched by the regional ministries of environment and health in 2019. Only one municipality, Santanyi, took it up. There are now fifteen municipalities, but the total number of beaches is low - 28 in all. Alcudia has just the one beach, Sant Joan on the bay of Pollensa.
It would be interesting to see what might happen if the main beach in Alcudia were to be declared smoke-free. Some pretty large beaches in Mallorca are now covered by this initiative, e.g. Santa Ponsa, so maybe it will be extended to the main beach. Pollensa has four - Formentor, Albercutx in Puerto Pollensa and the calas Barques and Molins in Cala San Vicente.
Where town halls are concerned, this is a voluntary scheme, so it has been a case of seeing how effective it has been since Santanyi started it off at Caló des Moro. The police don’t get involved because there is no regime of penalties; it’s all about raising awareness and trusting to people’s goodwill. One of these days, though, fines could come in. Barcelona fines people thirty euros for breaching its smoke-free beach rules.
Muro and Santa Margalida have as yet not declared any beaches smoke-free.