Mallorca public housing: EU warns over Sóller’s 18-year rule

In Sóller, Mallorca, the residence requirement for public housing stands at 18 years: a European commissioner warns that member states cannot demand more than five. On Wednesday, 14 October 2026, Balearic president Marga Prohens defended the islands’ residence rules for public housing and certain grants, saying they comply with European Union law. Her comments followed a warning from European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner, reported by Última Hora.

Brunner made the warning in a reply to a member of the European Parliament from Compromís. He said a requirement longer than the five years set by European Union rules could discriminate against people from abroad.

Prohens said the Balearic rules concern legal residence, not nationality, and give applicants priority rather than excluding others. Balearic government spokesman Antoni Costa also defended the current rules. But he acknowledged that length of residence could instead count in an applicant’s favour without being a condition that rules others out. If requirements became too extensive, he said, they could eventually cause problems with the European Union.

Topics: Housing · Politics · Sóller

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com