María Gibert, the manager of the Habtur holiday rentals association, says that the supply of holiday rentals in Mallorca has decreased because inspections have intensified.
She is referring to the illegal supply rather than that which is licensed, and the Council of Mallorca's tourism councillor, Andreu Serra, agrees that there has been a decrease. He nevertheless acknowledges that there are still plenty of adverts on different websites for illegal lets.
Much publicity is being given to tactics that a beefed-up tourism inspection service is using and intends to use. The publicity alone can have a deterrent effect, and this appears to be the case. Fines are another deterrence - from 40,000 to 400,000 euros. Palma has been the principal focus for this publicity, but the inspectors are not neglecting other hot spots on the island for illegal letting - Alcudia is an example.
The Council's target is to quadruple the number of proceedings against illegal lets this year; there were 237 in 2022. The Council took over responsibility for inspections from the Balearic tourism ministry at the start of last year, and this transfer of powers has led to the intensification that María Gibert refers to; Habtur fully support this action.
It has been the case over many years that publicity has been given to a crackdown on illegal lets. But for all the talk of the past at least couple of decades, the results have not matched it. The situation now seems to be different. As well as more inspectors, the tactics are changing, technology is being deployed and the public are being urged to notify the inspectors of suspected illegal activity - inspeccioturisme@conselldemallorca.net.