Just days after the Balearic government announced plans to increase the rate of the tourist tax for next summer, a proposal has been put forward to charge tourists up to seven euros a day for the use of their rent-a-cars.
The Mallorcan Nationalist Party, Mes, announced this morning that they wanted to introduce a rent-a-car surcharge of between two and seven euros a day in an effort to raise funds for public transport. The surcharge would be levied on the number of kilometres travelled by the vehicle per day. "The more kilometres you travel, the more you pay," Mes said in a statement this morning.
The move comes at a time when the island is trying to fighting traffic gridlock with rent-a-cars being blamed as one of the major reasons for the traffic "saturation." Just last week the Balearic government announced plans to expand the rail network on the island with a new service to Palma airport.
Hoteliers have already slammed the increase in the tourist tax and the new proposed surcharge is expected to receive similar treatment both from the ruling Balearic government and the tourist industry.
Until recently Mes formed part of the ruling Balearic government coalition but it was toppled at the last local elections by the right-wing Partido Popular.
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Between 2€ and 7€ ? ...Still very cheap ! Should be atleast double ! The rent-a-car tourists are the cheapest one ,causing massive jams at the big supermarket locations, most of the time they stay in a "friends" flat or something similar...driving like crazy around the island ...We call them "photo tourists"...
Ulla JacksonAnd Sundays. This last one I was up in the Cala Ratjada/Cala Guya/Cala Mesquida area and it was chocka with cars, especially Cala Mesquida. Very very few hire cars from what I could see. Also loads of motorbikes, all being presumably riden by locals.
Seeing that € 0,85 of the cost of a litre of petrol stay in Mallorca as tax received, these people should be encouraging tourists to drive around more, not less.
Just how are the authorities going to charge this variable amount? Check the Km clock at the start of rental, and when it returns. Then the distance would be calculated, and looking at the numbers, could be around 3 cents per km. 200km would equal €6 which can be doable if based on the east coast, with a trip up north, then down the MA10 to Soller, and Palma and back. Cala Millor straight to Palma is around 70 to 80 kms depending on start and finish. More paperwork for the hirers of Rent a Cars, which they I doubt will like at the end of the day. Photo the clock out, and photo on return for each car. Some with large fleets, this can ba a lot more paperwork.
If it's earmarked for improvements of public transport, I really doubt it. Most likely it will just vanish into the general coffers. The saturation of cars are when people stop working either for lunch or in the evening. I doubt many tourists set off at that time.
Another lucrative way to fill the coffers to spend recklessly. They should ask Rachel Reeves for ideas, she has plenty to fund "pies in the sky".