It hadn't previously been given specific mention as an aspect of the government's transport plan, but the project for a rail extension from Sa Pobla to Alcudia is to be revived and included in the plan.
The Alcudia extension was abandoned by the previous PSOE-led coalition government. The funding for it from Madrid had been in place. In the end, President Antich formally dropped the plan, but Madrid had in any event grown impatient because of the lack of agreement as to the route. The national government said that it would withdraw the funding and allocate it elsewhere. That was meant to have been for the Manacor-Arta line. Ultimately, of course, neither project was fulfilled.
The disagreement was between Alcudia town hall and the regional government, but it was more specific than this. The town hall was then led by Miquel Ferrer of the Unió Mallorquina. The minister for transport and land was Gabriel Vicens of the PSM Majorcan Socialists (now the main constituent of Més). These two parties were typically at loggerheads, the consequence in part of their competing visions of Majorcan nationalism.
The government proposed a route that would have run alongside the main road from Sa Pobla, passed through the Son Fe area and then gone to a terminus somewhere behind the auditorium in the town. There was an additional proposal for a tram link to the port.
The town hall rejected this option, as did farmers in Son Fe, who staged a tractor protest. It preferred a scheme to take the rail line by Albufera and to end by the ruined Es Fogueró nightclub near to the municipal boundary with Playa de Muro. There was also a variation on the government's plan, which was to combine the two proposals. The line would have followed the main road for a shorter distance and would then have been diverted to pass by Albufera and eventually end up at the Magic Roundabout in Puerto Alcudia.
The current government hasn't given any idea as to the route it would propose, but the project will be in the plan when it is finally published next month. Apart from a decision regarding the route, there would be the issue of cost. An estimate is 100 million euros. In principle, this cost might be met under the new special economic regime, which is due to be introduced next year. Or it might be met from the new insularity fund that is to be set up.