The announcement by the Council of Majorca that it intends approving the removal of the toll for the Soller tunnel at its September full session has been greeted very positively by most of Soller's residents. Mayor Jaume Servera, like the president of the Council, Miquel Ensenyat, a member of Més, says that he is "very satisfied" with the news. He adds that the town hall administration wasn't surprised by the announcement as the Council had previously signalled its intention to make the tunnel free as from next year.
But with the announcement comes a concern that Soller may have to cope with ever more traffic and therefore parking. Servera is "not worried" about the consequences of the lifting of the toll but accepts that there is likely to be more traffic. He doesn't believe that it will be necessary to adopt any specific measures in this respect, even if he acknowledges that there is already a lack of parking.
"In my opinion the elimination of the toll will have an effect only at the beginning because of the novelty of being able to come to Soller without having to pay. After this the situation will be normalised, as happens in any other town on the island." (Not, it should be noted, that there are or have been any other toll roads in Majorca.)
Opposition parties in Soller, while also welcoming the news, have advised the Council and the regional government to be cautious. Former mayor Carlos Simarro of the Partido Popular says that the party is totally in agreement with the decision to make the tunnel free for all users, but he is warning that breaking the current agreement might have legal consequences. There are six years to still run on the concession to operate the tunnel's toll. There needs, therefore, to be an agreement with the concessionaire and so avoid any possible reference to the courts. If not, the lifting of the toll could end up costing taxpayers.
Susana Sina of Guanyem Soller is also in full agreement with the decision but she has described the announcement as "populist" and hopes that it will not result in any negative impact on the quality of life of people in Soller.
3 comments
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
I also think that this is great news. We visit Seller on most holidays to the island. I do not see that tourists who are spending £2,000+ on a holiday to Mallorca would be put off by £5 toll (for a car full of people) to be able to see the wonderful sights at this beautiful town and port. We travelled there yesterday and the toll is still in place. Interestingly however, the toll has been reduced from £5.05 to £4.95. An unusual strategy. I can only think they have surplus of 5c coins from the previous price
This is great news for all the Mallorcans. Tourists may worry about a crowded Soller, but we locals hate to pay for a tunnel we all paid with public money a long long time ago. All other villages in the Balearics have free access and nobody sane would put fees to public roads or tunnels. Parking is hard in all the Serra but that's because public transport sucks in the Belearics and nobody bats an eye.
Of course there will still discussions going up and down before the tunnel will be toll free. Nevertheless I am not happy with the toll-free idea It will not only get Soller overcrowed ( at is is now as from the first train coming in from Palma until the last leaves ) but it will loose it's authenticity and will attrack a loads of rif raf not ony to Soller but also to the port I compare it with a frree lake side beach we have near our home in Belgium where police had to interfere during the summer months and hot weekends. At a certain time the lakeside beach was not free anymore and people had to pay 5 e to get in : all trouble vanished and it became a nice place again