The Council of Mallorca and Palma council have signed an agreement to control illegal tourist rentals in the city by adding two inspectors to the Municipal Housing and Anti-Squatting Office. The mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez, and the president of the Council of Mallorca, Llorenç Galmés, have presented this agreement, which will be valid for four years, with the possibility of extending it for another four years, and which will establish an inspection plan to be reviewed every two weeks.
Martínez indicated that this agreement will allow for the coordination of the activities of both administrations, which will enable them to penalise infringements of tourism, urban planning and municipal civic regulations in relation to these properties. When asked how many properties in Palma could be used for this activity in an irregular manner, the mayor estimated that there could be around 15,000 advertisements on various platforms in the city. At the same time, he estimated that between 40% and 50% of the illegal offer in Mallorca could be located in Palma.
‘The City Council and the Council of Mallorca have joined forces to offer a more direct and effective response to combat illegal tourism,’ Martínez stressed. The island council’s president expressed similar sentiments, emphasising the commitment of both institutions to ‘eradicate illegal activity and unfair competition’ within the tourism sector.
‘With this agreement, we are joining forces to provide an effective response to illegal activity and the illegal market, to promote coexistence between residents and tourists, as this is another part of the Council of Mallorca’s strategy to protect Mallorca’s tourism model and safeguard the interests of residents and the regulated sector,’ said Galmés. The role of these inspectors will be to share specific information with the City Council on the problems detected, carry out inspections and collect any complaints that may arise.
Galmés stated that the Council of Mallorca is ‘determined to be more effective’ in detecting and punishing illegal practices, which ‘not only damage Mallorca’s image, but also cause problems of coexistence in the municipalities’. The mayor stressed that this would be the first time that a municipal office has set up a service for the inspection and direct reporting of illegal tourist activities.
At the same time, both institutions will intensify their joint actions to combat illegal tourist rentals through a programme of inspections, in which the inspectors assigned to the office and the rest of the Council of Mallorca’s inspectors will participate. All of this will be done in collaboration with the Town Council’s Urban Planning Department and the Palma Local Police, who will also take action against the excesses associated with anti-social tourism. These actions will also be supported by health and trade inspectors from the regional government.
A third line of action will focus on youth hostels that advertise and operate illegally as tourist hostels.
At the same time, a joint communication campaign will be launched by both administrations with the aim of raising awareness among residents and visitors alike. ‘This is about cooperation, coordination and political will between two administrations to tackle with determination a problem that was not addressed in the two previous legislative terms,’ concluded the mayor.
The press conference was also attended by the Councillor for Urban Planning, Housing and Strategic Projects, Óscar Fidalgo, the Island Councillor for Tourism, José Marcial Rodríguez, and the Island Director General for Supply and Quality, Clara del Moral. Rodríguez stressed that the inspection service has detected that the owners of these illegal tourist properties are ‘changing’ their behaviour and, although they are no longer advertised on platforms, they could be marketed in their countries of origin or elsewhere, such as Instagram or Tiktok. It should be remembered that penalties for tourism offences range from 50,000 to 500,000 euros, plus the amount applicable for breaching urban planning or public order regulations.