Each year, some 30,000 new residents register with the town hall in Palma; in 2019, 32,207 were added to the "padrón". Of these new residents over the past six or seven years, 44% are foreigners, 27% are from elsewhere in the Balearics and 26% are from different parts of Spain.
These figures were given on Monday at the presentation of an information guide for people who are new to the city. The guide is called Hola Palma. It is in Spanish, Catalan and English and is available in paper form or digitally using a QR code. As from July 1, it will be given to all those who register with the town hall.
Mayor José Hila highlighted the fact that Palma is "a modern and cosmopolitan city, where people from all over the world live and which continues to grow". In overall population terms, he noted, there was a 1.5% increase (some 6,500 more people) in 2020, a year when there was less movement. Because of this, he said, "we want to offer a welcome guide that will be useful in knowing about the town hall and public services that are available".
"In a visual and simple way", the guide will include information about town hall resources to help the public, citizen service points, sports facilities, libraries, the citizen's card, neighbourhood centres, paperwork, job offers through the PalmaActiva agency, health centres and cultural sites.
Citizen participation councillor, Alberto Jarabo, said that the guide will facilitate greater integration of people who move to the city. He explained that it is in English because of the high percentage of foreigners, be they from Europe or other continents, who "in many cases will not know the official languages of the Balearics".