Motorhome dwellers want nothing to do with Palma protest by motorhome 'tourists'

Both groups are opposed to the provisions of the ordinance as they affect motorhomes. But there are very different reasons for this opposition. Javier González, representative of the people living in motorhomes in Son Güells (Palma), explains why: "We want to distance ourselves from the protest by the associations. They have a tourist and recreational purpose. What they are complaining about is an insignificant problem. Ninety per cent of motorhome users and caravaners in Palma do have a problem, and that is housing on the island."

The motorhome 'tourists', says González, are only bothered by the fact that they will have difficulties with parking their vehicles in the same place for up to ten days in a row. "That's a minor problem compared with ours. Our use is not recreational, it is residential. They want to park their vehicles next to the beach, they are tourists. We are forced to live here because there is no affordable housing."

The motorhome dwellers in Son Güells, Son Hugo and Ciutat Jardí are in talks with each other, and they are clear that what the associations want "is not our fight". "The associations are calling for this demonstration on the 8th and they are going to cause a traffic jam throughout the city." González points out that the number of people living in motorhomes is on the increase. "This week a young couple with a one-year-old child came and asked us what it was like to live in a motorhome. Their problem is that they don't have access to a flat." There are contacts with the town hall administration, but González says it is not very open to dialogue. Opposition political parties, he adds, say that they are listening.

At the end of 2024, researchers from the geography faculty at the University of the Balearic Islands presented a study into residents of motorhomes. The researchers counted a total of 150 motorhomes, of which 83 were for residential use. The locations were Son Hugo (the largest of all the settlements), Son Güells, Ciutat Jardí, La Vileta and Cas Català (in Calvia).