Only 39.3 pct of Majorcans live in the area where they were born

ONLY 39.3 percent of the population of Majorca remain living in municipalities where they were born, official government figures showed yesterday.
People in areas in the centre of the island which are still home to traditional farming communities are more likely to still be living in the municipality where they were born.

Research revealed by way of contrast that in coastal areas, where dependence is almost exclusively on the tourist industry and related businesses, the population tends to be more geographically mobile.

The municipalities with the highest proportion of the population remaining in the area where they were born are Petra (63.9%), Sant Joan (59.1%), Llubi (59.1%), Sa Pobla (57.7%) and Ariany (57.3%).

In the coastal municipality of Andratx, however, where tourism is the most important single feature of the economy, just 22.7 percent of the population live where they were born, and the figure is even lower in Calvia (9.1%), Marratxi outside Palma (14.6%) and Llucmajor which partly embraces the tourist resort of El Arenal (20%). In the case of Llucmajor, more than half the population of the municipality live in new urban residential complexes.

It is also noticeable that the municipality of Campos, which has no tourism and is traditionally agricultural has just 46.9 percent of its population claiming to live where they were born. This again is due to recent growth (2000-2005) in the building of new homes bringing in property buyers from other areas.