BeachcomberWhy on earth would the EU supply the cash?! Spain has been a net beneficiary of EU funds forever (!!). And you saying the EU is bankrupt? What a stupid comment. Indeed it would take a well considered plan and assurances that contracts would be issued based on competence and quality - not friends and backhanders.
Charles Dalrymple-ChumleyOh please! This island has been saturated with cash from residents and tourists alike for decades now, and most of it has been laundered by the grimey politicians. There has been sooooo much money yet there are villages and even parts of Palma that still have 3rd world cabling running along fronts of buildings and overhead just like you see in places like India, Laos, Cambodia, etc. It is shameful! They can EASILY afford this project if they give it to an honest contractor, but it always ends up going to family, friends or firends of friends who hugely iinflate the project cost to line theirs and the grubby politicians projects! Its in their culture! I once heard someone liken Mallorquins to pirates - they're not far wrong!
Why not go all the way and reconnect Santanyi as well which was also served by a railway? It would need to be safe and well policed as there have been numerous reports of unruly behaviour at Palma transport hubs and on the line via Inca at night time. Can’t the EU supply the cash? Oh no because it’s bankrupt and the Brussels masters wouldn’t allow the money to be spent on something useful and in Majorca. They just want to grow their empire by giving freebie’s to prospective new entrants. Majorca desperately needs a good railway system that is safe clean and reliable.
Morgan WilliamsI was merely repeating what has already been reported in MDB namely that tourism income is down (so it follows tax revenues will be likewise) because of the amateur anti-tourist protests and therefore there will be less cash to spend on capital projects. Without the stupidity of the protests, revenues would be unaffected. The law of unintended consequences applies although if one had been present at the protests planning meeting one could easily have foreseen the consequence.
I had hoped the Railway Projects would occur. This is one I did not know about. There are the other routes partially laid to Arta and from Sa Pobla. But ,alas,I still think they may never be completed.
Charles Dalrymple-ChumleyThe "anti-tourism" movement may be misguided in many ways, but it's become trendy now, especially with young rebels (you were young once?). "Kill a tourist" was far more likely scribbled by some stupid kid who was just being rebellious . Like "f*** the cops" or something like that. Meaningless. Probably couldn't even tell you why they wrote it now. I think you may be confusing Magaluf with Mallorca. The English tabloid press wildly exaggerates the "anti-British" protests and blasted out "kill a tourist" with full force, complete with a list of all the imaginary horrors Brits will suffer in Mallorca. On the bright side, Brits only account for less than 20% of tourism here, so any impact has been minimal so far. Yet it's no surprise that apparently Magaluf might be struggling a bit (even that might be another exaggeration). But the other 3600 sq. Km are still pretty busy. The numbers seem to indicate largest in history. I don't think that's going away anytime soon. And yes, the train is very good idea and long overdue (well, all of them are - including extending the existing lines). I hope they invest heavily in it and actually pull it off. The payoff will come quicker than they might think.
Great news if it happens. Time to wipe out the unionist lazy monopolistic Palma taxi drivers once and for all. Tried 3 times in the last week to order a cab to no avail. Uber saved the day each time. The Palma taxi drivers are an utter disgrace.
The anti-tourist protestors have kyboshed this project by their "kill a tourist" protests which have in turn eroded the island's income which means far less cash is available for capital projects. All actions have consequences.
It will never happen, been talking about it for years and even if they start now it will take 5 years.
Is there any reason why there doesn’t seem to be any mention of improving public transport west of Palma into Calvia? Traffic is really bad along this section. I suppose the hilly/mountainous terrain significantly increases costs related to tram/rail projects.