The Partido Popular is claiming that the transport plan for bus services from the airport to tourist resorts is not legal and should be withdrawn. The party has presented a number of submissions which suggest that the regional government has not followed the legal procedure to make modifications to services, thus rendering them null and void.
The PP's intervention comes after the taxi drivers arrived at an agreement with the government which requires the government to modify one of the more controversial aspects of the services - direct ones to the tourist resorts. They won't now be direct as they will stop at places with more than 15,000 residents.
The party also disagrees with the plan for fast lanes for buses (which would also be used by taxis) on motorways near to Palma. This is something else which the PP argues has made the processing of the transport plan totally wrong. The radical change envisaged, the party says, requires a wholly new processing in order to alter the current transport model.
Moreover, the change demands that there should be mobility and environmental studies in order to ensure that the model is sound. The law requires processing to include financial feasibility studies, social and environmental reports and forecasts regarding the road and rail networks. A fundamental procedure, the PP maintains, has been overlooked, which is to ask for reports from the Council of Majorca and town halls, as they are affected by any change.
Where the Council is concerned, the party insists that the government has disregarded the responsibilities that the Council has. It is indisputable, the PP claims, that the government hasn't followed the need for participation, while the plan is the result of improvisation without the rigour of studies to support it.
Meanwhile, the meeting at the transport ministry yesterday at which taxi-driver representatives were due to have rubber-stamped agreements reached on Friday broke up without there being any signing. The taxi drivers want time for their legal advisors to consider the transport plan. The drivers are also not ruling out taking the plan to court. Nevertheless, minister Marc Pons was confident that there will be ratification at a meeting due to take place next week.