Mallorca pursues 146 illegal holiday rental cases
Mallorca has processed 146 cases over illegal holiday rental listings by July, with fines already topping €2.1 million. The Consell de Mallorca, the island council, says repeat offenders who keep operating or put a property back on a platform will be referred to prosecutors from autumn. Tourism councillor Guillem Ginard said the total is 40 per cent higher than for all of 2025, when 104 cases were recorded.
Of the 146 sanction cases, 61 have been decided. The council classed 36 as very serious and 25 as serious. Under Mallorca’s new tourism rules, very serious breaches can draw fines of €50,000 to €500,000.
The council has also begun 60 fast-track declarations of illegality, known as DIA cases. They order owners to stop the activity immediately and remove the listing from platforms; 54 have already been completed. These cases apply where a property has no authorisation to be marketed as tourist accommodation.
A DIA case can run alongside a financial penalty case, meaning an owner can be ordered to stop renting and face a fine at the same time. Ginard said the fast-track process takes five to seven months. If an owner does not remove an advert within ten days and offends again, the council plans to send the case to prosecutors from autumn; the financial penalty is also increased when an advert remains online after ten days.
Summer inspections run from 15 May to 15 November. By July, inspectors had carried out 1,546 checks on illegal tourist offers, concentrating particularly on businesses that have not operated legally in the past three years.
Inspectors are also checking whether legal accommodation meets its permitted conditions, including possible overcrowding, excess tourism and foldaway beds. The Consell de Mallorca has 31 inspection staff and 17 workers in its sanctions department.
The island council is also preparing changes to its Plan for Tourist Areas Intervention, or PIAT. Ginard said the process would be difficult and lengthy, but could be ready by the end of this year or early 2027. Its stated aim is to reduce the number of tourist beds on Mallorca, although no total has yet been set for hotels and holiday rentals.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com