Balearic Islands: More guests in private homes — friendship or black market?

Balearic Islands: More guests in private homes — friendship or black market?

3.3 million overnight stays from January to November 2025 raise questions

The bare number is clear: according to the statistics office Ibestat, around 3.3 million travellers stayed in private homes or with friends and relatives in the Balearic Islands between January and November 2025. That is an increase of 10.4 percent compared with the previous year. Authorities and the business community do not see only cosy visits here — many fear that a thriving black market for holiday rentals is hiding behind the figures.

Key question

Who is really staying "with friends" — or are landlords using that description to evade rules, registrations and taxes?

Critical analysis

The Ibestat figure is a good start, but it only shows how many people slept in accommodations reported as private. It does not answer how many of these apartments are officially registered as tourist accommodation, whether landlords meet the legally required standards, or how often inspections take place, as highlighted by Huge gap in the registry: Nearly 8,000 unregistered holiday apartments in Mallorca.

One problem: entry statistics show arrivals, not the specific type of accommodation for each night. A tourist who lands in Palma may later move to a registered holiday apartment, a hotel or a private home. Without systematic linking of registration data, tax records and local inspections, much remains speculative.

What is missing in the public discourse

The debate too often focuses on assigning blame: "More visitors = more illegal renting." Three things are particularly lacking: clear numbers on the registration rate of private apartments, verifiable information on official inspections, and data on the social impact in neighbourhoods — noise, waste, tenant advocacy. And: there is little attention to causes. Why do landlords try to circumvent the rules? Often there are simple economic incentives: strong demand, complicated permit procedures, and sometimes high taxes or requirements.

Everyday scene from Mallorca

Early morning on Carrer de Sant Miquel in Palma: delivery vans manoeuvre, a café owner sweeps the cobbles, tourists with suitcases hurry past a building whose doorbell shows two names and a note: "Holiday apartment." On the balcony above, freshly washed bed linen hangs out to dry. Residents murmur that the apartment "turns over three times a month." Such small observations are not proof, but they show why the statistics eventually translate into street-level reality.

Concrete solutions

1) Improve data linkage: the statistics office, the interior ministry and municipal registers must be able to link data so movement patterns and accommodation types can be better understood — with respect for data protection rules. 2) Analyse electricity and water consumption: sudden consumption spikes in apartments are an indicator of short-term rentals. Municipalities can use anonymised analyses to locate areas of suspicion. 3) Transparency in the register: anyone using an apartment for tourism should be required to display the registration number clearly — online and on site. 4) Simplified legalization: small, clearly regulated pathways to registration could bring many into legality. 5) Strengthen citizen services: a local reporting platform (also by phone) for residents' complaints, combined with rapid inspections by municipal teams, would increase acceptance. 6) Combine sanctions and incentives: penalties should be tangible, as shown by removal campaigns reported in When the number is missing: Platforms to delete 2,373 holiday rentals in the Balearics — at the same time a quick, low-cost route to legitimisation can be offered.

Why this matters

It is not just about tax revenue. Illegal short-term renting changes neighbourhoods, drives up rents, burdens waste and cleaning services, and creates insecurity for long-term tenants. At the same time many owners of small holiday apartments rely on this income. A solution must enable both: honest income for hosts and protection for the island residents.

Pointed conclusion

The 3.3 million overnight stays are an indication, not a verdict. Those who immediately use them as a catch-all argument for "black-market renting" miss the complexity. Authorities should now not only request more entry data, but broaden the data base, make inspections more targeted and open pathways to legalisation, and coordinate with platforms amid moves such as Airbnb Puts the Balearic Islands Under Pressure: Deleting Illegal Listings — What It Means for Mallorca. Otherwise much will remain statistics — and in the streets of Palma, Alcúdia or Pollença you will still hear the same: the clatter of suitcases, the murmur of guests and the questions of neighbours.