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Bus lane removal request
THE president of the Mallorcan government, Llorenç Galmés, has announced the government will register a formal request to the DGT (General Directorate of Traffic) to eliminate the HOV bus lane, despite the DGT’s ‘positive’ assessment of its operation of the lane.
The announcement was made on Tuesday, July 18, by Galmés following a meeting with the government delegate for the Balearic Islands, Aina Calvo, and with the provincial director of the DGT, Francisca Ramis, to request the elimination of the lane.
Galmés said data collected by the government “confirms that traffic jams have increased by 66 per cent” and “the accident rate has not significantly reduced” in the area where the lane is located.
“The average speed is higher on the Ma19 in the direction of Palma, where the HOV (high occupancy vehicle) bus lane is located, than in the direction of Palma Airport, where there is no lane,” Ramis explained.
However, Ramish countered the opinion and said data available to the DGT is “different from those of the government.”
It was agreed to set up different work commissions in matters of security, cleaning, infrastructure and mobility, which will work in a coordinated manner to solve the problems faced by the area, and will be monitored periodically with the business sector.
The mayor also said that he will propose the creation of a ‘Commissioner for the Reform of Mature and Obsolete Tourist Areas in Spain’, which will depend on the Ministry of Tourism, and whose headquarters will be in Palma. Palma Beach will be a pilot project.
THE Balearic Islands supported the most passenger arrivals in Spain in June 2023, with 2,076,905 travellers, which represents 22.8 per cent of the total, according to data provided on Tuesday, July 18 by Turespaña (the Spanish institute of tourism).
Considering these figures, the number of passengers arriving on the Islands increased by 2.5 per cent. Since the beginning of the year from January 1 to June 30, 2023 the Balearic Islands welcomed 5,940,860 passengers, 9.5 per cent more than in the same period of the previous year.
Palma airport received 1,520,489 passengers in June 2023 and 4,652,397 up to the sixth month of the year.
In terms of low cost airlines, the Balearic Islands had the highest share of arrivals (26.3 per cent), followed by Catalonia (22.1 per cent).
