Almost 50% of Palma's districts have populations above recommended level

Pere Garau is one of the most densely inhabited districts of Palma.

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma13/08/2016 00:00

Population figures provided by Palma town hall show that almost half the 88 neighbourhoods (or districts) of the city are inhabited by more people than are generally accepted as being recommended. For a Mediterranean city, the threshold is set at no more than 120 inhabitants per hectare (10,000 square metres). Forty-two of the neighbourhoods exceed this level and some by very great margins.

The most populous neighbourhoods are Son Ximelis with 519 inhabitants per hectare and Pere Garau with 417. Among those with the lowest populations are La Casa Blanca (0.36) and Son Vida (0.71). The populations for the airport and port area are also very low but they are not considered to be particularly representative.

This all gives an average of 20.16 inhabitants per hectare across the city. As of 1 January this year the registered population of Palma was 430,599 in a total land area of 21,355.84 hectares.

The population does of course increase because of tourism, albeit this will tend to affect certain parts of the city more than others. It is notable, for example, that the established populations (inhabitants per hectare) of Can Pastilla and Arenal are very much on the low side.

The registered population between the start of January 2015 and this year rose by 2,676. The nationalities that most increased were Spanish, Italian, Romanian and German. Others declined, such as Ecuadorean and Nigerian. Neighbourhoods that gained the most additional inhabitants were Son Ferriol (plus 825) and Son Rapinya (663), while Son Gotleu with 813 fewer registered the largest decrease.