Non-resident foreigners and Spanish nationals with properties on Mallorca will solely be allowed one car per property as native authorities search for methods to handle the Spanish island’s overtourism and visitors issues.
One of many points Spain’s two archipelagos are going through on its hottest islands is the sheer quantity of automobiles circulating of their comparatively small territories.
In 2024, there have been reportedly 837,240 automobiles on the island of Mallorca, not far off the inhabitants whole of 966,908 (the actual inhabitants – together with vacationers – is 28 % greater).
Inevitably, extra vehicles means greater ranges of air pollution, extra frequent visitors jams and better competitors when vying for parking area.
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Consequently, Mallorca’s island council has determined that as of 2026 non-residents with a house in Mallorca ought to solely be allowed one automobile per property, and offered that they pay street tax first.
This measure shall be established within the draft regulation to restrict the entry of automobiles (together with rental vehicles) to Mallorca, which shall be introduced in June.
It follows different region-wide overtourism proposals introduced by Balearic president Marga Prohens in March, together with a hike within the so-called ‘ecotax’ or vacationer tax, the creation of a brand new tax for non-resident automobiles and a pledge to implement stricter restrictions on vacation rental properties.
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This regulation is already in place in neighbouring Ibiza and, after being analysed intimately, will now be replicated in Mallorca
“Non-residents of the island who personal a house in Mallorca will be capable to drive one car per proprietor, offered that the car is registered for tax functions at that handle,” Mallorca’s Council chief Llorenç Galmés confirmed.
Galmés added that the brand new laws will embody a tax for automobiles that don’t pay taxes within the Balearic Islands. Second dwelling homeowners who want to have a second car on the island should be capable to however they should pay a penalty for it and it’ll doubtless be topic to time constraints.
The general objective is to scale back the presence of foreign-registered vehicles, which is growing yearly, including additional stress to a street community with already greater than 800,000 native automobiles.
In 2023, as much as 324,623 automobiles entered Mallorca’s ports, 108 % greater than in 2017, in addition to 55,000 freight carriers comparable to vans.
These 379,628 automobiles represented 40 % of Mallorca’s automobiles that yr.
Different information signifies that on a peak day in August, Mallorca’s roads deal with 1.3 million journeys, and there are days when there are greater than 75,000 rental vehicles driving round as nicely.
Due to this fact research conclude that on peak dates there are anyplace between 90,000 and 120,000 extra automobiles, too many for Mallorca’s street community to take.
Mallorca’s Consell authorities plans to regulate the car threshold each one or two years relying on the effectiveness of the measures.
