According to the president of bus operators in the Balearics, Rafael Nadal, 40% of buses in Majorca are obsolete. He is referring to buses on public transport routes outside Palma, the concessions for which were due to have been renewed by the start of next year.
Nadal has restated his view that these concessions may not now come into effect until the end of 2019, the delay having been caused by a challenge to the terms of the concessions by the national association and now also by two companies.
Bus operators, Nadal maintains, have been delaying renewal of their fleets in anticipation of the outcome of the concession bids. He is wanting an urgent meeting of the Balearic transport operators federation to determine what bus companies should do, given what he says is the current situation of "impotence".
Globalia Autocares and Aumasa are the two companies to have challenged the specifications of the concessions bids. They argue that there is a clause regarding solvency which is illegal under regulations for joint venture organisations. The new concessions, just the three of them, would be run as joint ventures.