Electric carriages now expected to be on Alcudia's roads this season

At Tuesday's council meeting, councillor Azahara Machado said that the model of electric carriages to be used in Alcudia has been approved by the Spanish Government and is now waiting to pass the Technical Inspection of Vehicles (ITV). "Palma and Muro are waiting to see how the change goes in Alcudia to do it themselves. The company in Valencia that builds them will premiere its model in Alcudia."

Machado explained that eight of the ten carriage drivers have ordered electric vehicles. Municipal regulations approved in the spring of 2024 allow the introduction of electric carriages and the continued use of horse-drawn carriages. The two types can "coexist"; for the time being anyway. The change to electric carriages involves a minimum investment of around 10,000 euros. They can start operating as soon as all the necessary state authorisations are given.

Councillor Agüi Lobo of opposition party PSOE drew attention to a possible problem, one that has arisen in Malaga, which was a pioneer in introducing electric carriages. "Some carriage drivers are backing off because of a lack of reliability and the short life of the batteries." The town hall intends to ensure that there will be charging points in strategic places along the routes the carriages normally take.

Spain's ministry of transport approved these vehicles in 2023. Since then, factories such as Beer Bike Spain in Xàtiva (Valencia), which was visited by a delegation from Alcudia, has begun production of carriages. In Europe, Brussels took the lead in replacing horse-drawn carriages with electric models last summer.