Compulsory permits for drivers in Formentera

In a bid to reduce the pressure of tourism, driving straight off the ferry when arriving in Formentera will no longer be possible in 18 months' time unless the car-owner obtains prior permission.

During high season, Formentera has around 47,000 de facto residents – including year-round dwellers, holidaymakers, holiday home owners, and those working in the tourism industry who leave the island at the end of summer.

Effectively, the population quadruples for three or four months of the year, upping the number of cars on the island to over 30,000.

The highway network is only 38,500 metres long, meaning that if everyone went out driving at once, each car would only have 78 centimetres (31 inches) of road.

Given this clearly unsustainable situation, authorities are almost unanimous in considering that action has to be taken.

Car numbers, including hired vehicles operating in Formentera and even those owned by permanent residents, will be limited at any any time of the year, not just in summer.

Around 10,000 resident-owned vehicles and another 10,000 belonging to car-hire companies with a permanent base are registered on the island, even out of season.

Somehow, the Balearic government wants to ensure residents are still allowed to use their cars, goods can still be delivered and those with mobility difficulties can get about, all whilst cutting right down from the numbers seen to date.

Authorities will have to work out the finer details, reviewing and changing them each season.

Possible limits on the number of cars per household or per resident, exceptions for seasonal workers, how to allocate passes to hire-car fleets, and the number to be reserved for private vehicles owned by non-islanders will need to be worked out and are likely to be in constant evolution.