Your seven days news round-up in Mallorca

Which municipality in Mallorca requires the least financial effort to buy a home? The answer is Inca, according to Idealista at any rate. The property website has compiled an 'effort rate', which has to do with the annual instalment of a household's net income that is used to pay a 'typical' mortgage. In Andratx, this rate is apparently a whopping 91% of average household income. In Inca it is just 28%.

The website has calculated that seven of the top ten municipalities in Spain in terms of this effort are in the Balearics. Andratx has the highest rate in the country. Four other Mallorcan municipalities are among the top ten - Calvia, Soller, Campos and Santanyi. Santa Eulalia del Riu in Ibiza and the municipality of Ibiza complete the seven.

This is all a bit theoretical perhaps, but it is a further indication of the fact that there are parts of Mallorca that are very much more expensive than others, and it is no coincidence that the two requiring the greatest effort - Andratx and Calvia - regularly feature in lists of the most expensive municipalities for property purchasing in Spain and in lists of foreign buying.

Owners of large property portfolios

The low season in Mallorca takes some of the heat out of all the discussion about access to housing as there is greater availability of rented residential accommodation. But this is just a lull. We can anticipate this whole problem boiling up again as the 2025 season (from April) gets nearer. Great attention is thus paid to whatever remedies local authorities may offer.

The Balearic Government has its various schemes, but there is a question as to whether it will maintain an initiative of the last government - the temporary (seven-year) expropriation of empty properties in the hands of owners with large property portfolios. Ten is the minimum number to qualify as a large property owner. These owners are typically banks and investment funds.

The expropriation scheme was one whereby the government would guarantee a market rate for renting empty properties and sublet these at lower rents for social housing. It wasn't very successful, as only some forty properties were expropriated. The current government is drafting a new housing law. The scheme may or may not be included in this. If it is, then it is likely to be modified; this government's philosophy is more one of persuasion backed by incentives rather than enforcement.

The trigger for citizen protests

Holiday rentals are once more being blamed (with some justification) for the housing difficulties. In its latest report, the Exceltur alliance for tourism excellence (leading hotel groups, airlines, car hire and others) points the finger at holiday rentals. They have been "the real trigger factor for episodes of citizen protest against tourism" and this has been due to difficulties with accessing affordable housing.

By contrast, Exceltur maintains, the hotel sector has played only a "limited role" in the increase in supply of tourist accommodation and so therefore also in the perception of saturation and overtourism. Again, it is the holiday rentals that have generated this perception.

When it comes to apportioning this blame, Exceltur has an ally in the Forum of Civil Society. This grouping of citizens associations, environmentalists, unions and small business came to the fore in the spring when it presented a vision of the future of tourism in Mallorca at around the same time as the Balearic Government was launching its social and political pact for sustainability.

An executive member of the forum is Jaume Garau of the Palma XXI citizens association. He accepts that holiday rentals cannot be singled out as being solely to blame for overtourism, but he does point to the huge increase in the number of holiday-let places (beds) in Mallorca over the past ten years - from 10,000 to 100,000. These are the legal places, on top of which are the illegal ones, which "must be done away with".

Listening to civil society

In some respects, the forum, critical of the current tourism model, isn't a million miles away from the government and the tourism industry in proposals for changing the model. It has attempted to get close to the government and the industry, but accuses the government (and all political parties) of not placing civil society on the same level as hoteliers and tour operators when it comes to the debate about the tourism model. The forum has held its own talks with the likes of the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation and TUI and has found that they are interested in having civil society participate in the debate. The hoteliers consider the forum to be "a valid interlocutor". But the same cannot be said of the government.

Much of what Garau has to say does in fact make a good deal of sense. Take luxury tourism, for instance. He's not against this but nor does he believe we should "fantasise about its possibilities". "There are not that many people who pay 500 or 1,000 euros per night. Those who do, travel all over the world, so they rarely become loyal to a specific destination." He's right in this regard, contrasting this tourism with a base of regular tourism that has demonstrated its loyalty over many years, while he is also right in fearing that residents are becoming "second or third-class people".

Palma "milestone" and tough on graffiti

In Palma the president of the hoteliers association, Javier Vich, says that a "significant milestone" has been reached - almost total all-year opening. Eighty hotels in or near the centre of the city are members of the association. Sixty-four of these will be open for the whole of the low season (up to end-March); the other sixteen will only be closing for a month.

Optimism for this low season is provided by, for instance, a German market that continues to defy concerns caused by the German economy. The business market for conferences and exhibitions has been growing since the Palacio de Congresos opened. It attracts a high-spending sector and is making an important contribution to low-season hotel occupancy.

Something that visitors to the city and indeed residents have no wish to see is graffiti. The town hall has been talking tough on this for years, and the current administration has now confirmed the revised bylaw for dealing with graffiti and any other type of vandalism that defaces public or private property, e.g. scratches. The top fine will now be 3,000 euros, while those responsible will also have to bear the cost of cleaning and repairing that the town hall or contractors have to undertake. Between January and October, it is reported, 13,839 examples of graffiti were removed.

'Free' public transport under threat

It has been known for some while that Palma Town Hall has not made provision in its budgets for 'free' bus transport in 2025. The current administration had seemingly ruled this out for 2024 because it maintained that the Spanish Government subsidy took too long to be paid and was in any event insufficient. In the end there were free buses, but it seems unlikely that there will be in 2025. The Balearic Government has meanwhile not budgeted for free buses, trains and metro for 2025 but is more optimistic that the subsidy will continue. This all depends on the Spanish Government's own budgets. The announcement can be very late; last minute almost. For 2024, there was no confirmation until December 27, 2023.

Being an influencer or getting a proper job?

Mallorca's hotels and restaurants have often spoken about difficulties they have with recruitment. There is a staff shortage, one that became increasingly evident after the pandemic. It wasn't just a familiar problem of being unable to attract workers from the mainland (or abroad) because of the high cost of living and issues with finding accommodation. Young people were looking elsewhere for employment that was less demanding in terms of long hours and not necessarily great pay.

Traditional bakeries in Mallorca are another sector facing a problem with recruitment. The secretary of the association of pastry chefs and bakers, Maties Pomar, also highlights the pandemic. Many people, especially the young, now look to "prioritise their lives over their jobs". There is also a generational factor - the young aren't interested in this type of work - while Pomar points to a further reason. "We can't find workers because young people want to be influencers."