On Monday, Manuel Jiménez, president of the Paseo Marítimo Business Association in Palma, expressed his anger at the Balearic Ports Authority's apparent refusal to build an underground car park to compensate for the loss of almost 1,200 parking spaces.
This is a "broken promise" after three years of redevelopment work during which businesses suffered losses. The association insists that the ports authority's president, Javier Sanz, had promised that the car park would be built once all the remodelling of the Paseo was completed.
There have been "terrible financial consequences", firstly because of the pandemic, which forced businesses into taking out loans which must be repaid over five years, and then because of the redevelopment. Jiménez laments that "the Paseo has never been in such a critical situation as it is now".
Antonio Ruiz, president of the local residents' association, points out that the work has led to landlords increasing rents. This is having negative consequences for everyone.
Jiménez adds that public transport provisions from the Palacio de Congresos to the Marivent Palace, intended to revitalise the area's restaurant and nightlife sectors, have simply not been implemented.