Infrastructure Plans from the Consell de Mallorca
The president of the Consell de Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, held a conference on Wednesday on the Mallorca Road Plan at the Círculo Financiero de Baleares. Llorenç Galmés explained in detail to more than one hundred attendees the “unprecedented comprehensive infrastructure project” that the island institution is promoting in Mallorca to increase security, improve fluidity and move towards a more sustainable model. President Galmés stated that “in Mallorca we are in the midst of a process of change and transformation in terms of mobility, after years of neglect and paralysis.” He pointed out that “traffic jams are one of the main problems suffered by all citizens of this island: they reduce our quality of life and also, of course, our competitiveness, since they have a direct and negative impact on the economy of Mallorca”. For this reason, he said, “the Consell de Mallorca has been working intensively from the first minute to end traffic jams”.
Scrapping the 80km speed limit on the via cintura was part of the plan, as is a €164m injection into a Palma Access plan. President Galmés also highlighted the €20m invested to reinforce the road surface and eliminate thirty black spots on the secondary road network. Future improvement works that will be carried out on various roads of including from Santa Margalida to Can Picafort, Santa Margalida to Llubí, Alcúdia to Puerto de Pollença, and Lluc to Sa Calobra, among others.
On the other hand, the president of the Consell de Mallorca has defended the firm commitment to sustainable transport. “Faced with the mobility challenge that we face in Mallorca, sustainable mobility is undoubtedly part of the solution. By promoting public transport and other alternatives to private vehicles, traffic congestion is reduced and we protect the environment,” Galmés assured during his speech. Along these lines, he explained the Civic Roads Plan, which is worth €45m and will involve the construction of 60km of roads for pedestrians and bicycles that will link different towns on the island. He also explained the Plan de Aparcamientos Disuasorios (a Park & Ride approach to carparks), worth nearly €40m and more than 7,000 spaces to encourage the use of public transport.
In addition to the investment to renew or build new necessary infrastructures, Galmés explained that the Consell de Mallorca is working on the conclusions of a study of road loads: the need to regulate the entry of vehicles into the island prioritising residents, limit the maximum number of rental cars and implement a tax on cars that are not taxed in the Balearic Islands.
Finally, he pointed out that “to improve the mobility of the island we need quality public transport that is a real alternative to private vehicles”. During the conference, the president of the Consell de Mallorca welcomed the injection of €150m to reinforce the TIB and the announcement of the future train in Llucmajor, passing through the airport, by the Government.
Improved Financing for Infrastructure
The president of the Consell de Mallorca has reiterated that the institution needs more financing to be able to carry out the Road Plan to improve the mobility of the island. Galmés has again demanded from the Central Government the €230m of the Road Agreement. “It is a comparative grievance that Mallorca does not receive a single euro from the State to finance infrastructure, while it allocates €6,000m [€6bn] for commuter trains to Catalonia. This imbalance leaves us in an unfavourable position compared to other territories in the country and is even more flagrant when the State has the obligation to compensate for the costs that insularity entails,” said the president.
On the contrary, he was satisfied with the extraordinary transfer of €30m by the Government of the Balearic Islands to finance investments in roads that will be carried out in 2025. “In the face of Pedro Sánchez’s apathy, we have the support of the Government of Marga Prohens, who listens to and attends to the needs of the people of Mallorca,” concluded the president of the Consell de Mallorca.
