What is Mallorca going to do about the traffic situation with key roads gridlocked at peak times? The problem is not going to go away and you can’t blame hire cars because the traffic nightmare is ongoing throughout the year when the majority of tourists are long gone. It is easy to blame rent-a-cars. I challenge you to count the number of hire cars around you when you are stuck in traffic. Unless tourists are now renting ‘white vans’ or are coming on holiday by themselves I think you can safely say that this is a home-grown problem.
The local authorities have so far failed miserably to bring the problem under control, which is a big shame. Making the buses and trains free for residents hasn’t helped at all. There are two options. Either build more roads or penalise three or four-car families. The other option is to introduce an element of car-sharing.
Next time you are in traffic, count the number of cars occupied by a single person. You will probably also find that the majority of these one-person cars are all heading to the same area and will be returning to the same area. The traffic saturation is a home-grown problem and please don’t blame tourists; we all know who is responsible. Some difficult decisions will have to be taken sooner or later because otherwise it will just mean gridlock.
