150, 398, 5,000. From different sources, these are the varying numbers of motorhomes, camper vans, caravans in Palma. The first is from a University of the Balearic Islands study that was conducted last year. The second is from PACA, a group of motorhome users. The third is the mayor's figure.
There is perhaps an admission that Jaime Martínez's 5,000 isn't accurate and indeed that the other figures don't give a true reflection of the situation either. The deputy mayor, Javier Bonet, says that the town hall is now drawing up a census of motorhomes that are used for living in and for recreational purposes in order to determine what the situation really is.
"We are going settlement by settlement to get real numbers and differentiate between those who live in these vehicles due to financial problems and those that are empty and have tourist purposes. Then we can take measures." By "we", he is referring to the local police and social services.
"Where there are cases of social vulnerability, social policies will be applied. What we are not going to do is set up a site to accommodate tourist vehicles. First we have to know how many we have." Bonet said on Tuesday that the town hall has so far counted 120 in Son Hugo and another 60 in Ciutat Jardí.
Palma's new civic ordinance, which was recently given initial approval at a council meeting, has caused consternation among both motorhome dwellers and people who use the vehicles for recreational reasons. Fines for spending the night in a motorhome can be up to 1,500 euros. Bonet insisted there is no "red line" in the ordinance. "If it needs to be modified in order to improve it, this will be done." At present, there is a public consultation phase following the initial approval.
The deputy mayor has ruled out the possibility of setting up a site for recreational/tourist use. "This is not a type of tourism that interests us. But I share concerns, as there is a very different issue, which is the social drama of those who need to live in a motorhome due to a lack of housing."
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Once again everyone is yelling at each other about the campers but no one is actually talking about any solution to this problem counting them is a delaying tactic and will produce nothing these people are mostly Spanish from Mainland Spain who have come to Mallorca because of it's econemy and it costs almost nothing to take the ferry to Mallorca for them , It is not very surprising that camper´s are not welcome in Mallorca there is really no where for them to go except the street which is why we all see them when we go IKEA or anywhere around there they are harassed anywhere else they go Alcudia , Inca , Santany , this problem will only get worse it is not correct to Ban them and provide absolutely no alternative .
"This is not a type of tourism that interests us" Middle class families that spend money in local shops and cafes? Of course not, you only want people that give all their money to the hotels.