Overview

• Crews have begun digging a roughly 500-meter passage beneath the Kapuzinerberg to connect a municipal car park in the city centre to the garage of Wolfgang Porsche’s Paschinger Schlössl villa.
• The Salzburg municipal council granted an initial go-ahead in early 2024, and the city’s building and urban commission issued approval in September citing a public-interest rationale.
• Officials argued the tunnel would cut exhaust emissions on the hill and reduce accidents and congestion, a reasoning criticized by Vice Mayor Kay-Michael Dankl.
• A citizens’ petition with about 20,000 signatures calls for the project to be halted, denouncing preferential treatment for the ultra-wealthy and the intrusion into a protected area.
• Scrutiny has intensified over a reported €48,000 fee for using public land and over political ties, with Mayor Bernhard Auinger—formerly at Porsche—saying he inherited the case.