Locals in Majorca are furious as a “disgraceful” new issue makes their lives harder. A coach drivers’ association has said the roads in the Tramuntana Mountains are becoming gridlocked with cars, cyclists and even roller skaters.
They say that other drivers are always unfamiliar with the roads, which they understand, but now it seems to have become an issue of irresponsibility and it is causing accidents. “Cyclists go downhill at incredible speeds, thinking there’s nothing ahead,” the association said. “They don’t respect anything. You can see the garbage they leave behind. They stop anywhere to relieve themselves, whether it’s in the mountains or in a village, it doesn’t matter to them.”
Videos taken by coach drivers show cyclists riding in the middle of the road, making no attempt to move, as well as huge groups of cyclists blocking entire roads.
They want a meeting with the Council of Mallorca to discuss the use of roads in the mountains. One request will be regulating access times to the roads.
This week, the Council launched a series of information panels for parking availability in Sa Calobra and Soller and at Cala Tuent, the most crowded parts of the Tramuntana.
This comes after it was revealed there are 80,000 rental cars on Majorca. The Balearic Business Association for Car Rental with and without Drivers (Aevab) said the island ‘does not need so many cars’.
They added that this ‘has to be regulated’, giving the example of Ibiza, where quotas have to be established for each company.
Aevab estimated that car rental companies in Majorca could reduce their current fleets by 30%, meaning that around 24,000 vehicles would have to be taken off the road.