Court Confirms State Jurisdiction: What the VAO Ruling Really Means for Mallorca's Traffic

Court Confirms State Jurisdiction: What the VAO Ruling Really Means for Mallorca's Traffic

Key question: Who may set the motorway rules on Mallorca – the island administration or the state?

The High Court of Justice in Madrid has dismissed the island council's lawsuit against the national traffic authority DGT, a development echoed in Supreme Court bolsters Madrid – Balearic Islands between duty and overload. The consequence: the reserved lane known as VAO on the motorway to the airport officially remains in place — even though cars are currently using it again as normal. The legal decision is clear: responsibility for traffic safety and rule setting lies with the state. But what does this mean for everyday life on the island?

Critical analysis: The court rejected the core arguments of the island council, which mixed up competencies over the construction and maintenance of the road with the right to set traffic regulations. The ruling emphasizes an important technical distinction: ownership or responsibility for road maintenance is not automatically equivalent to the right to establish traffic rules. The court also criticized the island council's timing — the application for abolition was filed on August 1, 2023, even though the lane had only been put into operation on November 2, 2022. In short: too little observation time and the wrong legal level.

What is missing from the public debate? Public disputes often focus on party politics and symbolic images — open lane vs. bus lane — while three things are absent: hard measurement data (how travel times, bus punctuality and accident statistics have changed), transparent timelines for evaluation, and agreement on the objectives to be achieved (fewer cars, better connectivity, increased safety). Without these foundations, every debate becomes a tactical game between administrative levels instead of a factual assessment for users.

A Mallorca scene: in the morning, when the sun hangs low over Passeig Mallorca, you hear the constant whoosh of the Via Cintura, a bus driver's call at the stop for line 1 and now and then the rattling of a motorcycle entering the airport. Commuters, taxi drivers, tourists with rolling suitcases — all share the same asphalt but not the same interests, a tension made clearer by Court forces Balearic government: 600 Uber licenses must be re-examined. For the man on the bench in Parc de la Mar the ruling is abstract; for the bus driver it means whether she can move faster during rush hour or gets stuck in congestion, an issue linked to service quality and passengers' rights discussed in Judges in Palma strengthen passenger rights — a win with open questions.

Concrete solutions: First: a clear evaluation plan — mandatory data collection for at least twelve months after the introduction of any new traffic measure, published in an easily accessible report. Second: safety tests and an independent accident analysis along the section between km 2,600 and 6,500, so the question of traffic flow versus safety is based on numbers. Third: cooperation instead of confrontation — a technical committee with representatives from the island administration, the DGT, local municipalities, transport planners and user groups (bus operators, taxis, cycling associations). Fourth: pilot phases with clear indicators (e.g. bus punctuality, car travel time, accidents per million kilometres) before any permanent orders are made. Fifth: visible signage and consistent enforcement — only then will rules be followed and trust built, as shown by cases like Who pays when the police direct drivers into a residents-only zone? A Mallorca farce with consequences.

Practical measures that could help quickly: mobile measurement stations along the affected stretch, temporary camera monitoring to analyse vehicle occupancy (in compliance with data protection rules), and an information campaign explaining when and for whom the VAO lane applies. This reduces frustration at petrol stations, parking areas and on social media, and brings the debate back to facts.

Pointed conclusion: The ruling removed a formal hurdle but did not settle the debate. Madrid has confirmed that traffic rules are a state responsibility — legally logical, but politically unsatisfying for those who want local solutions. What is needed now is less noise and more measuring devices: anyone who wants to improve mobility in Mallorca must collect data, evaluate it transparently and decide together — not unilaterally. Until then the stretch of motorway between km 2,600 and 6,500 will remain a reminder: good transport planning needs time, data and a plan everyone understands.