Menorca traffic squeeze: PSOE seeks 15% fewer summer cars
Menorca’s roads carried 122,170 vehicles on the busiest day of the year. PSOE wants the island to start limiting incoming cars with a 15% cut in its first summer of controls.
The party will take the proposal to the island council plenary, which must debate the restriction. The starting point would be the highest number of vehicles covered by the limit on the busiest day of the previous summer.
July and August pressure
PSOE says Menorca’s road network is objectively overloaded, particularly in July and August. A study commissioned by the previous administration in 2023 found that roads had 30% too many vehicles in those months.
A separate vehicle-load study commissioned by the current administration put the peak-day total at 122,170 vehicles. It estimated that 36,170 of them arrive through Menorca’s ports during the tourist season.
Further cuts and more transport
PSOE wants a timetable for progressively deeper reductions in later summers. Technical criteria and agreement among all political groups in the plenary would determine how the initial 15% cut is increased.
The party says easing pressure on the roads will also require a stronger public-transport service, with more frequent connections, new routes and new transport options for residents and visitors.
Limits on vehicle entry are covered by the Menorca Biosphere Reserve Law and were reinforced by a recent addition approved by Parliament at the request of the Island Council of Menorca. The island plenary agreed that addition in September, but a regulation setting reduction targets is still among the steps needed before the limits can take effect.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com