Last year, over two million people holidayed in the Balearics without staying in hotels or holiday rentals. According to Frontur statistics from the National Statistics Institute for 2023, 2.3 million tourists stayed with friends or relatives. Many of these visitors likely stayed with family, but a significant portion may have used illegal rentals, contributing to the overcrowding issue.
Official statistics reveal that in 2023, 2.3 million tourists stayed in homes of supposed friends or relatives, surpassing the 2.06 million who chose holiday rentals. This suggests more tourists are staying in private homes or unregulated accommodation, which are currently under scrutiny for contributing to overcrowding, especially from the hotel sector’s perspective.
Additionally, the statistics also highlight that almost one million tourists - 975,105 - spent their holidays in their second homes. This means that in 2023, a total of 3.2 million visitors didn't spend a cent on hotels, apartments or the tourist tax, as these are classified under "non-tourist accommodation" by Frontur.
This data indicate that out of the 17.8 million tourists visiting the Balearic Islands in the record-breaking year of 2023, nearly 20% did not pay for traditional accommodation, possibly staying in illegal lodgings instead.
However, Frontur data also show that the majority of tourists, 12.03 million (67.5%), stayed in hotels. Holiday rental establishments accommodated 2.06 million tourists, making up 11.57% of the total. This trend of tourists bypassing regulated establishments helps explain the simultaneous presence of more than 2 million people on a single day in August. When combining the 1.2 million residents with the 600,000 legal hotel and holiday rental places, there are still about 300,000 people unaccounted for in regulated accommodations, many of whom arrive on cruise ships, private boats, or stay with friends and in second homes.