The enthusiasm with which President Bauzá greeted the news of the "Mediterranean corridor" high-speed rail service on the mainland contrasts with the apparent indifference of the regional government to a railway in its own backyard - the extension from Manacor to Artà.
Bauzá's support for the mainland service stems from its potential to cut the cost of imports to the Balearics. It may have some impact in this regard, but if he were serious about making imports cheaper then he should be doing all he can to tackle the cost of shipping. While he has made an economic case in favour of the high-speed service, his own government has made a different economic case - against the Manacor to Artà line.
This rail line, work on which is currently suspended owing to what is said to be a lack of finance, has provoked all manner of argument and recrimination, culminating in a protest in Son Servera at the weekend. It is just the latest manifestation of arguments that have dogged the line ever since the previous regional government announced its development.
The protest and the wishes of the mayors of Son Servera, Artà, Sant Llorenç and Capdepera to get work on the line unparalysed form another contrast - that with the opposition to the project among residents when the plans for the project were first drawn up. The rail line has never had anything like unanimous support.
Much of the opposition was of the nimby variety, but it is ever thus with such infrastructure projects. More objective was the report by the island's Chamber of Commerce which questioned the wisdom of the rail line and in particular the then regional government's figures in terms of usage and return on investment.
The mayors are in favour of the rail line, though, because of possible economic benefits to the eastern part of the island and because of what is a comparatively poor transport infrastructure. Another voice, that of the president of the hotel association in Capdepera, speaking in the context of there being just one hotel and one hostel open there this winter, has called for transport improvements. The argument isn't a strong one, as the internal transport infrastructure isn't really an issue when it comes to winter tourism, but he does have a point in respect of what are weak transport connections - both road and rail - that apply to most of the east coast.
Rather than the work on the line having been stopped for financial reasons, the mayors believe that the regional government took a political decision when it halted the work. And messages coming out of the government are, it must be said, somewhat confusing. A couple of weeks ago the responsible minister, Gabriel Company (environment and land), insisted that the government hadn't given up on the rail line and that its future depended upon funds from central government. At the same time, however, he was flagging up the notion of Mallorca having a "corridor" of its own, a green one that would run the length of the rail line.
The mayors, however, claim that there are state funds that would allow work to continue, and they wonder why the regional government took its decision without apparently discussing the matter with the development ministry in Madrid. Whoever one believes, and it is difficult to know, the immediate future of the rail line is due to be the subject of a meeting that has been called, bizarrely enough, three days after the national election on 20 November.
Whatever the outcome of that meeting and indeed whatever the future may be for the Manacor to Artà line, if it has one at all, the arguments over its development, as with other arguments surrounding transport projects on Mallorca, raise a question as to whether a real, a sensible and an integrated transport system can ever be agreed.
Mallorca is small enough that it might be argued that it doesn't need a rail service, or at least any development of the existing one. On the other hand, and though the Manacor to Artà line would only be 30 kilometres long, the island is sufficiently large enough to accommodate more rail transport; indeed, it probably should have more rail services. But what seems to be lacking, and has been lacking, is a true appreciation of all the social, environmental and economic issues (the latter to include tourism) as they apply to the island's transport system.
If the paralysis of the Manacor to Artà line has any benefit, it is that it might just inspire a proper investigation of the needs of this transport system. Though when that might ever happen, heaven only knows.
Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.
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