Mallorca healthcare: Balearics score 28 for privatisation

Mallorca, in Spain’s Balearic Islands, sits in a region that scores 28 out of 34 for healthcare privatisation: a new report puts the Balearics among the country’s highest. The Federation of Associations for the Defence of Public Healthcare presented the report on 6 October 2026. Madrid scores 34, Catalonia matches the Balearics on 28, and the Canary Islands score 26.

The report’s coordinator, José Manuel Aranda, also leads the Balearic Association for the Defence of Public Healthcare. He says privatisation makes public care harder to access and increases inequality.

Across Spain, the number of people taking out private health insurance has risen by 81 per cent since 2014, Aranda says. That means 21 per cent of the population now has cover. Families’ out-of-pocket healthcare spending has also risen by 52.8 per cent, to an average of 576 euros per family.

Aranda points to long waits as a driver of the shift. Federation spokesman Sergio Fernández says getting a primary-care appointment is difficult and a specialist consultation can take months. People who can afford it turn to private care, he says.

Topics: Health

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com