The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, visited today the new Palma Promenade after the renovation carried out over the last three years by Puertos del Estado, through the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands, and the Palma de Mallorca City Council. The minister toured the 3.5 kilometers of the new promenade, which has increased the space dedicated to pedestrians by 20%, taking it away from road traffic, in addition to incorporating new urban elements to favor pedestrian and cyclist mobility and citizen recreation. A promenade that continues “fulfilling its role as a main thoroughfare of the city, but adhering to the parameters of our commitment to active and collective mobility.”
“The people of Palma regain their place by the sea,” the minister congratulated himself, recalling that green areas now occupy 70% of the entire space. Thus, from an urban planning perspective, the promenade enables greater integration between the port and the nearest neighborhoods, as the enormous traffic barrier posed by a six-lane road for the exclusive use of vehicles, which created a real gap between the sea and the city, is reduced. “Road traffic still has its place, but ceding part of its hegemonic prominence of decades in favor of a healthier lifestyle,” explained the minister.
Furthermore, the promenade allows for the incorporation of different forms of sustainable mobility. In addition to the bike lane that runs along the 3.5 kilometers of the new promenade, pedestrian use is facilitated with 13 more meters of sidewalk width. The minister highlighted the benefit this brings to local merchants “who, without invading the pedestrian space, see their potential clientele increased due to the greater influx.”
Investment of 63 million euros
Safety also gains with this new configuration with “better located public transport stops and twice as many safe crossings, 26 in total.” Indeed, zebra crossings have been painted every 100 meters, allowing direct access to the port in an area historically black for road safety.
Óscar Puente wanted to emphasize the collaboration between different Public Administrations in conceiving, developing, and materializing this project that allows the city to “embrace its bay.” “It is only fair to recognize that it started from the common thinking of the previous teams of the Palma city council and the Balearic port authority,” acknowledged the minister, who identified as the key to its success that “businesspeople and citizens were listened to, polishing the final version of the new Palma promenade.” The total investment in this project has been 63 million, including VAT.
For the minister, this project “symbolizes like no other” the “sustainability lens” that permeates the Government’s investments in transport. Investments that have continued to grow in recent years. In 2025 alone, the central government has allocated a total of 458 million to transport in the Balearic Islands.
Of these, 160 have been mobilized towards direct investments for infrastructure and 298 million to transfers to improve connectivity and island transport, including the funding for the free public land transport that has been applied in the islands since 2023.
Subsidies for maritime transport
Óscar Puente has focused on the funding that is being made by the Central Government for the services and infrastructure of maritime and air transport, two vital means for the connectivity of the islands. Examples of this are the subsidies for resident tickets provided by the executive, a figure that has tripled since 2018 for boat tickets (87 million in 2025) and has covered since that same year 75% of airplane tickets, “which has meant savings for Balearic residents of 1,320 million euros until 2024,” the minister recalled.
The development of state ports has also taken up a significant part of the investments, with 203 million euros in the last seven years, 55% more than previously. “Furthermore – continued the Minister of Transport – until 2029 we plan to invest in the Balearic state ports more than double, up to 523.5 million euros.” Of these, 335.5 million “will improve the infrastructure and facilities of key points for the supply and movement of people in the Balearic Islands.” The remainder will be allocated, in the minister’s words, to other “key issues of our political action,” such as environmental sustainability (90 million euros), port-city interaction (62.8 million euros), the improvement of access routes (18 million euros), digitalization (11.5 million euros) or security (7.7 million euros).
Regarding the air sector, Puente recalled several of the initiatives that have been carried out by the Government to boost it, such as the repeated updating of the three inter-island routes declared public service obligations (Ibiza-Menorca and /Menorca) to adjust the reference fares, including the unaccompanied minors service.
Port-city integration
The new Paseo Marítimo in Palma now sports a new configuration that allows citizens to interact with their port in a more peaceful, accessible, and sustainable way, after three years during which numerous works have been carried out along its route. Some of these include the removal of one lane per direction, the construction of a landscaped median between the roadways, the execution of more than 20 new zebra crossings, and the renewal of lighting with LED systems. Furthermore, during this time a raised bridge and a footbridge have been demolished, with the intention of unifying the promenade at ground level.
The promenade now has 3,100 trees and palm trees of 21 different species, of which more than 2,300 are newly planted, and 37,000 square meters of flowerbeds for shrubs and native plants have been created.
In addition, various works have been carried out on the regenerated drinking water networks, the separation of stormwater and wastewater, as well as the installation of thousands of meters of conduits for the medium-voltage electrical grid, gas, telephony, and fiber optics.
The remodeling works of the promenade began on November 18, 2022, but the project began to take shape in 2019, materializing in 2020 with the signing of the agreement between the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands and the Palma City Council, which establishes the agreements for the future management of the promenade. In parallel, before and during the project, the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands has led a participatory process with local merchants, residents, and business owners, who have experienced continuous and committed contact with the port authority. During this process, opinions and specific requirements from the different stakeholder groups have been gathered to incorporate them into the project, always prioritizing the general interest.
The citizens of Palma have also been informed at all times through various communication channels – both individual and mass – about the most important aspects of the project. They have also been able to participate in social events, such as a community day for planting trees and flowers, an ideas contest for the Christmas lighting of the promenade, and the 1st Solidarity Race, which will be held on November 16, to publicly present the completion of the works on the Marítimo.
