The Balearic Government considers that the single transport ticket announced by the central government may be “interesting”, but calls for an urgent meeting with the autonomous communities to analyze whether its scope can be extended, since the measure is limited to state transport, which does not exist in the Balearic Islands. This is what sources of the Ministry of Housing, Territory and Mobility have said after the announcement made this Monday by the President of the Executive, Pedro Sánchez.
Lack of information one year after the announcement
From the department headed by the Minister José Luis Mateo, the Government has regretted that almost a year after the Ministry of Transport announced this initiative, no concrete information has been provided to the communities. The autonomous Executive already expressed at the time that the project could be attractive in general terms, but stressed that it lacked sufficient data to assess its actual implementation, which is why it requested a multilateral meeting.
The same sources have reproached that the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, has not convened a single sectoral conference with the autonomies, despite being a shared matter. “Today President Pedro Sánchez is announcing the project again, but we still have no direct information,” they have pointed out, insisting that the communities should be an active part of the design of the measure and not know the details through public announcements, a dynamic that the Govern has already criticized in other state initiatives.
Free transport in the Balearic Islands until 2026
In this context, the Government has recalled that in the Balearic Islands is guaranteed free public transport at least until 2026, a policy that does not depend on the single state ticket and that already benefits users of inter-island transport. This gratuity, they have remarked, is not affected by the Government’s announcement, which focuses exclusively on state services.
The regional executive has stressed that the announced single ticket includes medium distance trains, commuter trains and state buses, but excludes high speed and has no practical application in the Balearic Islands, where there is no public transport of state competence. ” If the Government wants to broaden its scope in collaboration with the communities, it must convene them at once”, the sources said, calling for a real debate on mobility and financing.
Single ticket price and schedule
The single ticket will come into operation in the second half of January and will be priced at 60 euros per month, with a reduced fare of 30 euros for those under 26 years of age.
The measure, announced at the beginning of the year but now specified in price and dates, seeks to facilitate the use of public transport throughout the State, although the Government itself has expressed its desire that autonomous regions and municipalities join voluntarily to include metros, streetcars and urban buses within their competence, a possibility that in the Balearic Islands is still pending negotiation.
