“Anyone who wants a car will get one. But nobody should expect offers for five euros a day.” Ramón Reus doesn’t talk around. The times when rental car providers undercut each other with ridiculous prices are finally over. The chairman of the AEVAB association, in which the vast majority of rental companies on the Spanish Balearic Islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera are represented, is preparing holidaymakers for a permanently scarce supply of rental cars – at correspondingly high prices. At least 50 to 60 euros per day for small cars can be expected.
This is not only due to the lack of semiconductors in the automotive industry. Automakers prefer to put the available materials in large and expensive cars – and outsource most of the production to private buyers, who pay the most for it. Car rental companies, which in the past were served at significant discounts, now have to take a backseat. But especially in Mallorca and Ibiza, the shortage is partly wanted: by the rental companies themselves, who can now make more margin, and also by the left-wing government: the politicians of the coalition partner Podemos in particular have long been aware of the air pollution caused by tens of thousands of rental cars an eyesore.