Manacor.When the members of the train lobby heard the news from the previous Balearic government that there would be funding from Madrid to reopen a railway line between Manacor and Arta, they probably thought they could lower their demonstration placards and go home.
But with the new regional government having said there is now no funding to complete the works that have started on the new electrically-powered tram-style train, the placards are now being brought out of cupboards and the lobby has reconvened. The Socialists, say the new government, allegedly received the money from Madrid but spent it on other things.
With members coming from as far away from one another as Felanitx and Cala Ratjada, the lobby held its first meeting in Son Servera on Monday and is planning a timetable of demonstrations. They have already collected 1'000 signatures from people who are living in areas where great swathes of territory have been ploughed through by giant excavators in readiness for the new train, but now lie silent. In the case of Son Servera, the town has been cut in two, a recently built bicycle lane down to the coast dug up, and traffic rerouted interminably through an industrial estate. Next week, the lobby will be meeting with the Mayors of municipalities affected by the paralisation of the works to get them to help push the government.