The Councillor for Mobility and Housing, Josep Marí, today explained the agreement reached with the Spanish government to include an allocation of 43 million euros to finance 100% of the price of transport passes and multi-journey tickets for public transport in the Balearic Islands. The agreement will be approved by means of an amendment to the budget during the debate period that began today in the Congress of Deputies.
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With this contribution, the State will finance the extension of the free metro and train service in Mallorca for the whole of 2023. As for the bus network, in Mallorca, it will go from the current 50% to 72% subsidy to total free travel. In Menorca, Eivissa and Formentera it will allow the current free public transport to be extended throughout 2023 at the full cost of the State Budget.
Minister Marí said that “this is a major agreement for our community, which adds to the social shield that we are promoting from the Government of the Balearic Islands to help families through these times of economic uncertainty, betting on a right such as public transport.
Marí acknowledged and thanked the “sensitivity shown by the State Government to the reality of the Islands” and Madrid’s commitment to a multitude of investment projects to continue moving towards sustainable mobility in such fragile territories as the Balearic Islands. “With measures like these, we continue to reward regular users of public transport, who make it a real alternative to the private car. The councillor added that “at the moment we are considering whether the measure could also be applied to the EMT network in Palma, which will depend on the details of the measure”.
Compensation to the island councils
The agreement signed with the Spanish government, which also benefits the Canary Islands, is based on the recognition of the fact of being an island. To benefit, the Balearic Islands will have to prove, within thirty days of the entry into force of the State Budget Law, that since 1 January a 100% discount has been introduced on the price of transport season tickets and multi-journey tickets for collective public land transport on the islands, and that there is a commitment to maintaining this measure until 31 December 2023.
With the granting of this aid, the Autonomous Community will proportionally compensate the administrations or companies managing the collective land transport services: in the case of Menorca, Eivissa and Formentera, the island councils, which are responsible for land transport in their respective territories.