In January, responsibilities for tourism inspection in Mallorca were transferred from the Balearic government to the Council of Mallorca. Since then, the tourism department has been releasing monthly figures regarding the number of inspections made and the number of infringements.
Andreu Serra, the tourism councillor, stresses that "the Council's primary objective is to put an end to illegal tourist offer in Mallorca". "During the high season we acted forcefully to pursue one of the main problems in the sector, and we will spare no effort to combat this scourge." In this respect, 158 illegal holiday rentals were detected between January and September. These were the result of 881 inspections of holiday rental accommodation.
There were 1,877 inspections in all, 1,337 of which were of accommodation. A total of 499 infringements since January have led to fines being issued or currently being processed. The other principal categories were accommodation overcrowding, breaches of bar/restaurant and nightlife licences, and offences by tourism intermediaries (e.g. travel agencies or websites).
By municipality, there were 701 inspections in Palma. These were followed by Calvia (191), Llucmajor (131), Pollensa (84), Alcudia (75), Santanyí (71), Santa Margalida (60) Manacor (55), Capdepera (54) and Soller (51).
The Council has a facility by which the public can report suspected illegal holiday rentals. Up to the end of September, the inspection service had received 155 reports.