An analysis of holiday rental properties in Spain by the National Statistics Institute (INE) has found that five per cent of all homes in the Balearics - 29,237 - are for holiday rental. This is the highest percentage in the country.
Data from August this year indicate that 9.1% of all holiday rental properties in Spain are in the Balearics and that the islands have 11.2% of all places (beds). These amount to 182,745. The Balearics have the highest number of places per rental unit in the country.
In three municipalities in Mallorca, more than ten per cent of homes are dedicated to holiday rental - Alcudia (11.9%), Pollensa (22.3%) and Santanyi (11.6%). In Sant Josep in Ibiza the figure is 10.3%. There are only 21 municipalities in the whole of the country where the ten per cent mark is exceeded.
Pollensa, the INE study shows, has the second highest proportion of holiday rentals in the country. There are 2,739 properties with 17,255 places.
Across Spain, there are some 320,000 holiday rentals. These equate to 1.3% of the total housing stock. They have 1.6 million places. Almost three-fifths of the total are in three regions - Andalusia, Catalonia and Valencia - but if the Balearics are considered at a provincial level, the islands are third behind Alicante and Malaga.