Palma estimates 400 victims of sexual exploitation
Palma, Mallorca, estimates that about 400 people in the city are victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation. The figure is equivalent to 40% of people in prostitution in Palma. The city council’s equality unit presented the estimate on 18 September 2026.
Cases identified through indications
Sociologist Lourdes de la Cruz, from the city council’s equality unit, said 79% of the estimated victims were counted through indications. Many affected people do not make a complaint, she said.
The council’s overall estimate puts women at 98% of victims and men at 2%. Its detailed breakdown lists 92% women, 6% trans women and 2% men. The most common profile identified is a woman aged 25 to 44 with secondary or higher education from a Hispanic American country.
Online channels make control harder to see
De la Cruz warned that pornography and adult-content platforms create an image among young people and adolescents that they seek to reproduce with people in prostitution.
She also said digitalisation, the internet and social networks make recruitment, intermediary work and the provision of services easier. The mechanisms of control have become more diffuse and less visible, she said.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com