Parking ticket in Palma, Mallorca

Parking violations - just one source of traffic fines' revenue. | Pere Bota

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma05/02/2022 10:23
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On average, 958 traffic fines per day were issued in Palma last year - fines for speeding, not respecting traffic lights and road signs, and parking violations.

The councillor for sustainable mobility, Francesc Dalmau, reports there having been almost 350,000 fines in 2021, far higher than the 250,000 in 2019 and the 175,000 in 2020, when there was less traffic because of the original state of alarm.

The increase in 2021 is largely due to speed radars - nine of them in various parts of the city. These haven't always been fully operational. The first radar was activated in 2019 and generated only some 700 fines. These doubled in 2020 but skyrocketed in 2021 to almost 100,000.

At present, it is unknown precisely how much revenue has been generated by last year's fines. There are many which are pending appeal, but the town hall's budget forecast was 20 million euros, up from 13.5 million in 2020. Not all fines end up being paid, e.g. because drivers can't be traced.

Opposition parties at the town hall were critical of the installation of radars and an increase in the number of ACIRE restricted access zones in Palma. They said that these were aimed at revenue collection and at compensating for a drop in revenue in previous years.