Figures from the National Statistics Institute show that in February this year there were 25,393 licensed holiday rental properties in the Balearics. Compared with the same month of 2021, these represented a decrease of 8.34% from 27,703. In February 2022 there were 26,458.
Three regions of Spain have experienced decreases - Catalonia and Madrid are the other two - while at national level there was an increase. In February this year, there were 305,136 holiday lets; in 2021 there were 294,698.
In terms of the percentage of all dwellings that were registered as holiday accommodation, the Balearic Islands headed the national list at 4.33% of the total. Second were the Canary Islands with 4.10%. The national average was 1.21%.
The Balearics also had more beds - an average of 6.18 per property, down from 6.32 in 2021. Nationally, the average was 5.06.
By municipality, Pollensa had the most holiday rental properties in the Balearics - 2,923, 67 more than in 2021. Alcudia was second with 1,804 (down from 1,941). Palma ranked fourth with 1,279, a decrease from 1,467 in 2021. Santanyi, Manacor and Felanitx were the three other Mallorcan municipalities in the top ten and each had fewer properties in February 2023 than in 2021.
Other than Pollensa, only six Mallorcan municipalities had increases from 2021 to 2023 - Ariany, Banyalbufar, Vilafranca, Consell, Escorca and Lloseta.
In Catalonia, the decrease in the number of holiday lets may be about to become more significant. Faced with similar issues regarding access to housing as the Balearics, the regional government has proposed legislation that would require urban planning permits. A conservative estimate is that this could lead to the loss of 28,000 holiday accommodation properties. An association representing owners reckons it could be much greater - up to 90,000.