The Council of Mallorca is under fresh pressure from the left-wing party Més per Mallorca to limit the number of vehicles entering Mallorca which do not belong to residents.
The initiative proposes that the Council of Mallorca, based on certain studies, can establish a limit on the number of vehicles entering the island without the cap affecting residents’ vehicles.
The idea is that any vehicle wishing to enter the island will have to have the express authorisation from the Council of Mallorca.
The limit, if approved, would be applicable during peak periods, “when the roads are saturated”, and during this same period a badge would be required, which would be provided by the island institution to all authorised persons.
The idea is not new in the Balearics.
For example, to take a vehicle to Formentera, permission is required and similar steps are being studied for Ibiza.
Last year, the Council of Mallorca has announced that it was studying the capacity of the island’s road network and indicated that there may be a limit on the number of vehicles entering Mallorca during the summer.
Traffic data from the Council of Mallorca point to a 14.7% year-on-year increase in the number of vehicles on the Andratx-Palma MA-1. Between January to July last year there were some eleven million vehicles. For the same seven months of 2023 there were 12.6 million.
The volume of traffic is such that it is said that it can take up to 90 minutes to do the journey between Andratx and Palma, whereas it should be more like 35 minutes, and that an alternative route - the old Palmanova road - has become busier. Tailbacks can be as long as fifteen kilometres.
And, the Guardia Civil has announced that it is to start using drones to monitor and control traffic in the Serra de Tramuntana, especial along the MA-10 road which runs through Deya from Valldemossa to Soller to reduce summer congestion.