Loyal visitors to the island can tell you a thing or two about it: Those who fly to Mallorca in the summer often get stuck in traffic jams on arrival in the direction of the capital. The island council has now decided on an environmental lane to relieve the traffic.
When guests from all over Europe flock to Mallorca Airport in the summer, there are regularly long traffic jams on the access road to Palma that take a long time to clear. That is why the council of the Balearic island wants to introduce a so-called Carril VAO Vehículos de Alta Ocupación ("Lane for Vehicles with High Occupancy"), which is a lane on which only cars with more than one occupant are allowed to drive. Such a lane already exists in the cities of Madrid and Barcelona. Since tourists tend to travel less frequently from the airport to the city in their cars alone, the lane on Mallorca is practically aimed at airport employees and residents of Mallorca who come to and from work alone in their cars. The aim is to encourage them to use public transport. The traffic reduced in this way produces less congestion and actively contributes to climate protection. If the official approval goes according to plan, the lane could be opened as early as the end of June, otherwise it would not be introduced until after the summer. The lane is 4.2 kilometres long and runs on the left side of the carriageway from the airport towards Palma de Mallorca. In addition to carpools of two or more people, the lane is also intended for disabled vehicles and for cars that do not emit emissions, such as electric vehicles, regardless of whether there is only one person in the car. In this way, drivers are also encouraged to switch to electric models and contribute to clean air on the popular holiday island.