The price per hour for a trip on a horse-drawn carriage in Palma is to go up from fifty to sixty euros. The town hall is due to approve a revision of tariffs at this week's council meeting. Mobility councillor Joan Ferrer says that operators have asked for the increase, the tariff having been frozen since 2007.
The revised rate will work on the basis of one euro per hour. Therefore, a 45-minute ride will be 45 euros; 30 euros for half an hour. The tariffs will be simpler, as until now there have been up to seventeen charges; these have caused confusion among visitors. Under the new scheme, there will only be the three rates - for 30, 45 and 60 minutes.
Ferrer adds that the rates are per journey regardless of the number of passengers. In order to establish this principle so that there is no doubt, the bylaw has had to be modified.
At present, there are 28 carriage licences. The town hall decided at the end of last year that the licences can only be passed on because of death, retirement or incapacity. Legal services at the town hall had concluded that the system of transfer which was being operated did not comply with regulations for town hall services.