The Government of the Balearic Islands, through the Directorate General of Mobility, the Consorci de Transports de Majorca (CTM) and Serveis Ferroviaris de Majorca (SFM); Palma City Council, through the Mobility Department and in collaboration with SMAP, BiciPalma and EMT Palma, and the Consell de Majorca, have scheduled a number of activities to celebrate European Mobility Week between the 16 and 22 September. This new edition, which is presented under the slogan "Mobility for all people", is being held in 1,338 cities in 37 European countries. Its aim is to advocate for available, accessible, affordable, safe and sustainable public transport for everyone, irrespective of users' context, income, location or individual mobility difficulties.
This Thursday, the Managing Director for Mobility of the Government of Majorca, Lorena del Valle, participated in the press conference to present the activities with the Deputy Mayor for Mobility of Palma City Council, Antonio Deudero, and the island director of Mobility of the Consell de Majorca, Rafel Oliver. "Mobility for all means public transport that is accessible to everyone", the Managing Director emphasised. The week begins with a technical debate conference, to be held on Tuesday the 16th and Wednesday the 17th in the Sala Aljub of the Es Baluard Museum, with presentations on "Challenges for improving mobility in island territories", by the Managing Director for Mobility of the Government, Lorena del Valle, and "Local, regional, metropolitan transport: integration", by the Director of Strategic Planning and Operation of the Madrid Transport Consortium, Francisco Javier Gómez López. Experts from the different administrations will take part in the round tables and debates. Among the most important events is the Mobility Day, which will be held on Saturday 20 September in Es Mercat square, Union street and Juan Carlos I square, which will be closed to traffic. This day offers a number of activities for the whole family, entertainment, music and games related to sustainable mobility.
This year, it should also be noted that on Mobility Day, at the TIB stop, in addition to publicising the service of Majorca's interurban public transport network (bus, train and metro), the new public address system of the TIB bus network, adapted to the needs of the visually impaired, will be presented, with the ONCE (Organización Nacional de Ciegos de España, Spanish National Organisation for the Blind) as a special guest. For its part, SFM will present its exhibition "150 years of trains in Majorca" at the Intermodal station and will have information tents in the Plaza Mayor. In the same square, the little ones will be able to get on the road train of the Amics del Ferrocarril (Friends of the Railway), which will be available all morning.
This week, special attention is being paid to the Public Transport Loyalty Awards, which will take place on Thursday 18 September in Palma's Plaça Espanya. This festive activity recognises the people who have used public transport the most in the last year, whether it be the city bus, BiciPalma bicycles or Majorca's interurban transport.
The traditional Park(ing) Day will be held on Friday 19 September, a day when different spaces usually used for parking are transformed into creative and alternative spaces, rethinking the use of urban space. This year, some thirty applications have been received for these activities, which is a new record number of registrations. On this day, different streets and squares in Palma will be transformed into creative and alternative spaces, and will rethink the use of urban space in an innovative and thoughtful way. As every year, guided tours have been scheduled to discover the TIB from the inside at the TIB network bus depot in Felanitx and at the SFM train and metro control centre at Palma Intermodal station. This is a family activity for the little ones and adults alike to see where Majorca's railway service is controlled from and for children to be train drivers for a day.
In addition, the Director General of Mobility of the Govern, Lorena del Valle, also recalled the TIB competitions and encouraged everyone to participate. This year sees the third edition of Tibmetratges, an amateur short film competition to tell little stories that happen while you're on public transport and two children's drawing competitions have also been organised. One of the drawing competitions is aimed at schoolchildren in Majorca to draw a more civic-minded world when travelling on public transport. The other drawing contest invites children from 5 to 12 years old to take part on the occasion of the "150 years of the railway in Majorca".
The European Car Free Day will be celebrated on Monday the 22nd. The 10th edition of the "Tour of Majorca by train", a free activity organised by the Associació d'Amics del Ferrocarril together with Serveis Ferroviaris de Majorca, will also take place in the afternoon (2.30 pm, meeting in front of the turnstiles of the Intermodal station).
This European Mobility Week, in collaboration with the Govern de les Illes Balears, the Majorcan Transport Consortium, Amics del Ferrocarril, SMAP, BiciPalma and EMT, will also include other activities, workshops and guided tours, details of which can be found at www.mobipalma.mobi and www.tib.org.
