The AEVAB association for vehicle rental in the Balearics says that it is open to reducing the number of hire cars in Mallorca and the rest of the Balearics.
The association's president, Ramón Reus, says: "It is clear that something has to be done." Recent images of traffic congestion have led to the government and the Council of Mallorca talking about possible limits. Reus adds that if there is a reduction, there will have to be agreement with the car-hire sector; AEVAB is said to represent 85% of firms in the Balearics.
He believes that restrictions should apply to private cars entering the islands as well as to hire cars, pointing to the example of Formentera, where there will be a four per cent reduction in vehicles from June to September this year.
Accepting that Formentera is small by comparison with the other islands, he nevertheless feels that experiences on that island could act as a "laboratory" for future region-wide policies.
According to AEVAB figures, there are currently some 65,000 hire cars in the Balearics. In high season the number will increase to around 95,000. "We are more or less back to the numbers we had in 2019," notes Reus.