News
The people’s paper Issue No. 1877
24 - 30 June 2021
Sahara rain WEEKEND rainfall containing dust from the Sahara has been a boon for companies offering car wash facilities as although not unusual, the steady rain seemed to contain more dust than usual meaning that all cars in the open were pretty much covered and needed a good wash.
MALLORCA • WWW.EUROWEEKLYNEWS.COM
AS promised, Mein Schiff 2 docked at Palma in the early hours of Thursday June 17 and the first passengers since 2020 disembarked for a few hours of sightseeing before the vessel headed off to other parts of the Spanish mainland, although it will return shortly to start a second round of cruises.
Rafa news
Superyacht sighting HAVING spent a few days in Gibraltar, no doubt refuelling and taking on cheap alcohol, superyacht Fountainhead, owned by American billionaire Edward Lampert headed around the Spanish peninsula and was recently spotted anchored off the coast of Mallorca for several days.
FREE • GRATIS
SPEND, SPEND, SPEND SOLLER TUNNEL
Cruise arrival
ALTHOUGH he may well have received vaccination whilst competing at various European tennis events, now that he has passed his 35th birthday, Rafa Nadel is entitled to apply to receive his inoculation in Mallorca as the health authorities are serving those aged between 35 and 39.
THE BEST FINANCE NEWS ON PAGES 14 - 17
Fast food, fast charge. THE Balearic Government has taken up the phrase used by Viv Nicholson, wife of a pools winner who said “spend, spend, spend.” Seemingly at odds with the normal advice from any government, this is because, the National Government has just granted the Balearic authorities €9.3 million to spend on electric vehicles and charging stations. With the now approved Emergency Recovery Fund windfall around the corner, the advice from CORT is to spend as much as possible as quickly as possible so
that it can apply for another round of financial support, but only if all of the first al‐ location is taken up. The €9.3 million which is due to be received on July 1 is to be split so that €6.3 million is available for pur‐ chase of cars, motorcycles, commercial vehicles and other electric vehicles, whilst the €3 million bal‐ ance is to go towards creat‐ ing charging stations. According to Balearic en‐ ergy transition minister Juan Pedro Yllanes every‐ thing needs to be done to reduce CO2 emissions and
reduce fleets driven by diesel or petrol and now companies may apply to purchase up to 50 electric vehicles in a year, an in‐ crease from the previous 30. There is also money to be made by scrapping old vehi‐ cles with a grant of up to €7,000 if combined with the purchase of a new electric car or up to €9,000 if the ve‐ hicle is to be classified for delivery purposes. There are smaller grants if no vehicle is being scrapped as part of the transaction.
THE Consell de Mallorca Minister of Mobility and Infrastruc‐ ture, Iván Sevillano, visited the start of the project to re‐ move all the infrastructure built around the toll area of the Soller tunnel. He was accompanied by the mayors of Bunyola, Andreu Bujosa, and Fornalutx, Francesc Marroig, and the first deputy mayor of Soller, Carlos Darder. The end of the concession of the tunnel in December 2017 left the area complete with the booths and other structures connected with the toll which had no further use. The minister commented “Every act that this government team of the Consell de Mallorca carries out in this tunnel, the rescue of the concession, its management and the with‐ drawal of the payment booths that we start today, are steps that help to eliminate the stigma of this infrastructure that unfortunately continues to be linked to the criminal machi‐ nations that surrounded the construction process. “Today we continue to take steps to return this tunnel to the citizens of Mallorca and especially to the inhabitants of the municipalities of the Vall de Soller and Bunyola who have had to endure for more than 20 years a situation of in‐ justice. The work which will remove all of the constructions con‐ nected with the toll will take three months and cost €337,813, which will include new signage and safety area with as little disruption to traffic as possible.
SITE VISIT: Reviewing the plans.