The Council of Mallorca’s study of road carrying capacity has once more put the spotlight on the numbers of vehicles on the island – those permanently and temporarily in Mallorca.
A key conclusion of this study is that there can be up to 122,397 too many vehicles at the summer peak in August. This assumes that the “most restrictive” maximum should be 834,263.
The number of permanent vehicles in Mallorca does require some explaining and context. According to the Balearic Statistics Institute (Ibestat) there were 837,240 vehicles in 2023. The number of cars was 584,042. The rest comprise motorcycles, vans, trucks, buses and coaches, industrial tractors, trailers and ‘others’. As the population of the island was 940,332, there were 0.9 vehicles per person – all vehicles, not cars.
At a European level, Eurostat’s 2022 figures for passenger cars show that Mallorca and the Balearics were in the second highest group for cars. There are regions of Spain at a similar level of between 600 and 700 cars for every 1,000 inhabitants, such as Galicia, Extremadura and the Canaries. Other islands, e.g. Corsica and Sardinia, are at a comparable level. Sicily is in the highest group – over 700.
Commenting on the Council of Mallorca’s report, a professor of human geography at the University of the Balearic Islands, Joana Maria Seguí, says that it is a confirmation that the level of motorisation in the Balearic Islands is the highest in Spain and one of the highest in Europe; motorisation is a word that Eurostat uses.
“There has been a very high growth in the car fleet. Mallorca has a limited territory of 3,640 square kilometres, of which more than 1,000 are in the Tramuntana Mountains. The population has almost doubled in thirty years and visitors have more than trebled, so the management of the territory and its mobility must be more efficient.”
She believes that restrictive measures, such as that for Formentor in the summer, are necessary, adding: “Vehicles are only one of the elements of the complex transport and mobility system. These measures must be accompanied by others that are aimed at greater sustainability, such as improvement of the public transport system.
“Continuing to expand infrastructure does not solve the problem. This has been demonstrated by the reality.” More lanes on Palma’s Via Cintura or for motorways coming into Palma have not reduced the volume of traffic or traffic jams. “Management is based on better demand and not on increases in supply in a territory as limited as the island. Difficulties must be placed on the use of individual transport.” This is because all the cars contribute to emissions, worsen the quality of life and make compliance with the laws on climate change and energy transition difficult.
