Location of a fatal accident in Palma, Mallorca

The MA-30 in Palma, which has a reputation as a black spot. | Teresa Ayuga

Andrew EdePalma04/01/2024 15:59
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2023 was the worst year for road fatalities in the Balearics since 2017. There were 41 deaths on inter-urban roads last year. In 2017, as had also been the case in 2016, there were 48.

The number of fatalities increased from 25 in 2022. The sixteen more deaths represented the highest percentage increase in Spain.

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Scene of a fatal accident in Alcudia, Mallorca

The worrying increase in fatal road accidents in Mallorca

In one month, July, there were eight fatalities in Mallorca, the highest number for eleven years. Over the two months of July and August, there were fourteen deaths in the Balearics, the highest for seven years. The vast majority of fatal accidents in 2023 were in Mallorca.

An increased volume of traffic and more road journeys are reasons that have been given for the rise in the number of fatalities. However, the traffic directorate has explained that it doesn't count journeys in the Balearics or in the Canaries, where journeys are short compared with the mainland.

The annual report on fatal accidents was presented in Madrid on Thursday by Spain's interior minister, Fernando Grande Marlaska. Nationally there were 1,145 fatalities, three fewer than in 2022.