Air travel

Balearics again calling for flat rates for mainland travel

Flat rates for flights have been discussed for several years. | Miquel À. Cañellas

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma04/06/2020 14:16

The Balearic parliament's environment and territorial planning committee has approved a motion that urges the Spanish government to set maximum reference prices - flat rates - for travel between the Balearics and the mainland and between the islands. This proposal was supported by eleven of the thirteen committee members, those for Ciudadanos and Vox having voted against.

The committee, which met on Wednesday, also agreed to press the government in not establishing an "air ecotax" that will affect the island regions and the north African cities. This was in reference to the government's proposed air tax. Josep Melià of El Pi observed that it would be a tax that fails to take account of the fact of insularity.

Melià said that for residents in non-mainland territories "taking the plane is not an option, it is a necessity." "This measure (the air tax) demonstrates a total ignorance of Spanish territorial reality and of the existing problem with the lack of connectivity in the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla."

There was a call to guarantee connectivity with the mainland and within the two island regions "without any extra new cost that makes transport communication even more expensive".

The idea of a flat rate has been raised on several previous occasions by politicians in the Balearics, including the current transport minister, Marc Pons.