SARA to be launched on Saturday

AS of November 1, Balearic Islands residents will no longer need to present their municipal registration certificate (certificado de empadronamiento) to travel by air or sea and benefit from discounts on fares.

The new system, however, does not apply in the case of children under 14 that do not have a DNI (Spanish national identity card).

An automatic system called SARA – developed by the Ministry of Development and first launched in the Canary Islands as a pilot project – will allow airlines, cruise operators and travel agencies to verify if passengers are indeed Balearic Islands residents, which entitles them to benefit from a 50 per cent discount on fares.

To get the discount, however, the name on the ticket issued to any given Balearic resident must match the name on his or her DNI, said the Ministry of Development.

Nevertheless, the discount will not be applicable on tickets for flights between the peninsula and the Balearic Islands or to Ceuta and Melilla whose price exceeds a limit to be set by the Ministry of Development.

It is not normal for the Government, given the current economic situation, to subsidise €600 plane tickets for flights to the Canary Islands or €550 tickets to the Balearic Islands, when, according to their data, their average price is around €70 and €120, said General Secretary of Transportation Carmen Librero.

The official launch of SARA – Spanish acronym for Automatic Residence Certification System – had originally been scheduled for April 2013, but was later postponed until November 1.