Decision on car parking charges delayed

Joan Collins PALMA council will delay the application of the system of paying by the minute in the city's car parks until the national Parliament approves the law which is at the moment in progress. According to an announcement from the councillor for Citizen Security, Traffic and Transport, Alvaro Gijon, this could establish a minimum charge to offset the losses which the concessionary companies running this service would suffer from the introduction of the new tariff system. Palma council will not apply the new payment system until the start of the new year when the new law regulating car parks will force all concessionary companies to charge for the actual time of the parking and not by fractions of hours as is the case at the moment. During a press conference yesterday, Gijon explained that the Spanish Government is still deciding the text of the law, and because of this he considered that it would be better to wait and see if it says that the payment for time stayed is applicable from the start of the parking period or if there will be a minimum price, as with taxis. The objective of this caution is to calm the concessionary companies managing the car parks in Palma, who have already shown their uneasiness at the losses of up to 20 percent which this measure will bring, in spite of having a contract signed by Palma council establishing the payment by fractions of the hour. Because of this, the companies and council have been negotiating, from the beginning of the year, what the applicable tariff per minute would be. The concessionary companies launched a proposal for 0.03 euros a minute, which would put the price of an hour's parking up to 1.80 euros, when the price at the moment is 1.20, a rise which Gijon described as “extreme”. The council proposed fixing the price at 0.022 euros per minute, taking the price of an hour to 1.32 euros.