Mallorca's second home owners to be allowed only one car
Non-resident foreigners and Spanish nationals with homes on Mallorca will only be allowed one vehicle per property as local authorities look for ways to address the Spanish island’s overtourism and traffic problems.
One of the issues Spain’s two archipelagos are facing on its most popular islands is the sheer amount of vehicles circulating in their relatively small territories.
In 2024, there were reportedly 837,240 vehicles on the island of Mallorca, not far off the population total of 966,908 (the real population - including tourists - is 28 percent higher).
Inevitably, more cars means higher levels of pollution, more frequent traffic jams and greater competition when vying for parking space.
As a result, Mallorca’s island council has decided that as of 2026 non-residents with a home in Mallorca should only be allowed one car per property, and provided that they pay road tax first.
This measure will be established in the draft law to limit the entry of vehicles (including rental cars) to Mallorca, which will be presented in June.
It follows other region-wide overtourism proposals presented by Balearic president Marga Prohens in March, including a hike in the so-called ‘ecotax’ or tourist tax, the creation of a new tax for non-resident vehicles and a pledge to implement stricter restrictions on holiday rental properties.
READ MORE: The new mass tourism measures on Spain’s Balearics
This law is already in place in neighbouring Ibiza and, after being analyzed in detail, will now be replicated in Mallorca
"Non-residents of the island who own a home in Mallorca will be able to drive one vehicle per owner, provided that the vehicle is registered for tax purposes at that address," Mallorca’s Council leader Llorenç Galmés confirmed.
Galmés added that the new regulations will include a tax for vehicles that do not pay taxes in the Balearic Islands.
The goal is to reduce the presence of foreign-registered cars, which is increasing every year, adding further pressure to a road network with already more than 800,000 local vehicles.
In 2023, up to 324,623 vehicles entered Mallorca's ports, 108 percent more than in 2017, as well as 55,000 freight carriers such as trucks.
These 379,628 vehicles represented 40 percent of Mallorca’s vehicles that year.
Other data indicates that on a peak day in August, Mallorca’s roads handle 1.3 million trips, and there are days when there are more than 75,000 rental cars driving around as well.
Therefore studies conclude that on peak dates there are anywhere between 90,000 and 120,000 excess vehicles, too many for Mallorca’s road network to take.
Mallorca's Consell government plans to adjust the vehicle threshold every one or two years depending on the effectiveness of the measures.
thelocal
