The government has been promising new charging points. | Sebastian Kahnert - EFE - EPA/DP

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The Balearic government has been told that its insistence on a percentage of hire cars being electric will be impossible to comply with in the short term.

The presidents of the regional and national car-rental firms associations have met the minister for energy transition, Juan Pedro Yllanes, and asked for there to be a "moratorium" this year on the requirement for electric vehicles. The percentages, due to rise over the years, were set out in the Balearics climate change legislation, and Yllanes's response to the request is said to have been a "resounding no".

Antoni Masferrer, president of Baleval, the regional association, said that there is currently a clear lack of electric charging points in the principal tourism areas. He pointed out to Yllanes that the government had promised to undertake a 2019-2022 plan for new points at a cost of ten million euros. Masferrer suggested that the government is not sticking to this plan.

In addition, the government has apparently failed to meet a commitment to constitute an expert commission to oversee the transition to electric vehicles and the necessary infrastructure. Motor manufacturers, meanwhile, are at present unable to supply a sufficient number of vehicles.

Masferrer stated that all that Baleval and Feneval (the national association) are saying is that, in the absence of sufficient and available charging points in the Balearics, especially in tourist resorts, it will be impossible to meet the legislation's requirements this year and for at least the next two years.