Your seven days news round-up in Mallorca

A video released by the Banc de Temps collective in Sencelles went viral last spring. This self-help group was highlighting concerns with housing in Sencelles, its messages all that more powerful because they had emanated from a village of just some 4,000 people. It was Banc de Temps who were to organise the first major protest last year. On May 25, an estimated 10,000 people demonstrated in Palma. Although it was styled as having been an anti-tourism protest, this ignored the primary reason - housing.

For Banc de Temps, who never said it was a march against tourism, the impact on housing in Sencelles from tourism was an increasing number of holiday rentals. Foreign buying of homes, a consequent gentrification, rents rising significantly, a lack of affordable housing: these were other issues they drew attention to in warning that residents were being forced out of their homes, out of Sencelles and off Mallorca.

This week another video was released, the group bemoaning the fact that nothing had changed since last May. Things had only got worse. More people were leaving because they couldn't afford rents or find anywhere to rent. They were leaving Mallorca and going to parts of the mainland - Galicia was one region mentioned. "Ruthless real-estate speculation" was blamed for the situation, while Mallorcans themselves didn't escape the blame. "We have to consider the responsibility of Mallorcan society, which wants to get more at any price."

The group warned that there will be more frequent and larger protests and that "something is about to happen". "We are avoiding social conflict, but the fuse is getting shorter."

Holiday lets in Mallorca's municipalities

The National Statistics Institute, as part of a remit to provide data about housing, periodically publishes figures for holiday rental properties per municipality. These are licensed rentals; the figures don't include any illegal letting. The latest report refers to November 2024 and contained no real surprises. Presented as the percentage of all homes that are licensed for holiday rental (and therefore not used as residential accommodation), Búger and Pollensa topped the list with percentages of 20.83% and 19.07% respectively. In seven Mallorcan municipalities in all, ten per cent or more of homes are holiday rentals. In descending order, the other five were Ariany, Alcudia, Fornalutx, Deya and Escorca.

What did this report tell us about Sencelles? The percentage was 3.97%. Can this be considered to be excessively high? By comparison with small villages like Búger and Ariany, it isn't. Compared with neighbouring municipalities, such as Algaida and Santa Eugenia, it is higher. Whether high or not, what these different percentages perhaps indicate is the need for an ideal situation whereby there can be a ceiling on the percentage. This said, somewhere like Pollensa has historically always had a large number of holiday rentals, many of which - villas - have little or nothing to do with the regular housing market.

An extraordinary aspect of this report came in the form of comments which implied that it was driven by hoteliers. Are we to seriously believe that the National Statistics Institute is producing figures because of a hotel lobby? Perhaps we are. Nowhere in the report was there any mention of hotels, and yet some wished to make this connection.

Second homes as illegal tourist accommodation

The same hotelier association was made in respect of an item about the illegal marketing of second homes as tourist accommodation. In this instance, it was the Balearic Institute of Statistics which provided the data, as it has been doing for several years. The institute doesn't state that these are illegal lets. What it does is provide a figure for the total number of tourists who stay in so-called 'non-market accommodation', namely second homes. This number comprises owners of these homes and those who describe themselves as friends or family, many of whom will be exactly that, meaning there is no illegality.

The point about this report was that since 2016 there has been a greater increase (in percentage terms) in this type of visitor than for the 'market accommodation', i.e. hotels of all types and licensed holiday rentals. This has led the tourism authorities to suspect that illegal marketing is being disguised. It is very difficult to prove though, as the Habtur holiday rentals association pointed out. And the article made clear it was Habtur who have been denouncing this possible illegality.

Fear of squatting affecting foreign buyers

A company that specialises in squatter evictions in Mallorca, Desokupación Mallorca, has been contacted by German media investigating squatting in second homes. The company's manager suggested this may give an idea as to how much concern there is with this issue in Germany, which provides the largest foreign-buying market. The fear of squatting is said to be scaring away potential foreign buyers, the company noting that while it can be comparatively easy to get rid of squatters in certain circumstances - no supplies of electricity or water, for instance - this isn't the case with luxury properties with everything available. "The better the house, the more they cling on to it." One client is the German owner of a villa in Genova (Palma) that is valued at five million euros.

In Playa de Palma, where there are many German residents, a group of homeless people have occupied a sea-front building. Some of these people are said to be drug addicts. One resident says: "Every day there are people lying in their own excrement, surrounded by crack pipes." This situation began to arise last autumn, since when more and more people have been arriving, and it is very difficult to do anything about them.

Not all Germans own luxury properties

If it's not the fear of squatters, then it is the price of housing. Not all Germans in Mallorca are wealthy and live in luxury properties. There are those who struggle, an issue that has been brought attention to in the past. Some people are ashamed to find themselves in difficulty, but others are quite prepared to admit to problems. 62-year-old Alexandra S. is one of them. She plans to leave Mallorca. The Costa Brava is her preferred alternative. "Everything here is too expensive and there is hardly any affordable housing. I no longer wish to live on this posh island."

So there are longstanding foreign residents in Mallorca who find themselves in much the same situation as the folk in Sencelles.

Government lacking support for tourism measures

Negative attitudes towards hoteliers are understandable because, as noted elsewhere in this week's paper, they don't always help themselves with their public pronouncements. In response to proposed Balearic Government measures for 'tourist containment', the hoteliers reckoned these lacked courage as there was no proposal to phase out apartment holiday let licences. Opposition parties have been making the same demand, PSOE in Palma having also called for the total eradication of licences for houses in the city on top of the existing ban on apartment lets.

None of the proposals, which also include (for example) a high-summer increase in the tourist tax, can go forward if the government doesn't have parliamentary support. Right now it doesn't have this. The tourism minister, Jaume Bauzá, has called meetings with opposition parties for next week in the hope of getting some agreement. But will there be?

Containment is what Santanyi Town Hall has in mind for Caló des Moro, synonymous with tourist overcrowding and the location for a protest in June last year. The University of the Balearic Islands is to undertake a study using sensors and drones in order to provide a "solid scientific basis" for future decisions in respect of visitor numbers.

Buses at the airport

There is no sign that tourist numbers will be going into reverse this year, despite a somewhat curious report which suggested that bookings were struggling; these were in fact up 22.5% compared with a year ago. Public transport for the volume of tourists is an issue. There needs to be more of it. But what there is can only benefit from actions that make public transport more visible. This is the case at the airport, where a new designated area for buses has been created as part of the airport's remodelling project. Services will include the Aerotib routes to resorts, the demand for these having shot up.