THE Balearics is the region of Spain with the highest number of vehicles for every 1'000 head of population. A national sustainability watchdog (OSE) reported yesterday that the Balearics' 602 cars is 113 more than the country's average of 489.27 cars per 1'000 people.
The Islands are followed down the list of regions by Madrid and Galicia with 532 and 516 cars per 1'000 people respectively. The high vehicle rate in the Balearics is explained by the fact that there are fleets of hire cars parked for use chiefly by visitors. At the other end of the scale come La Rioja, Aragon and the Basque Country with 402, 425 and 430 vehicles per 1'000 head of population respectively.
Spain is amongst the countries of the world which has the most cars pro rata its population level, although its average is under the 500 cars per 1'000 people average claimed by the first 15 countries of the European Union, amongst which are Germany with 563, Italy with 558, Austria with 522, Great Britain with 515 and France with 500.