Figures from the Balearic Ports Authority show that 378,609 vehicles entered Mallorca via the ports of Palma and Alcudia in 2024, an increase of some 15,200 compared with 2023. In 2019, the year before the pandemic, there were 282,695. Over a five-year period, therefore, the number of vehicles has risen by over 95,000.
The ports authority's figures cover passenger vehicles, motorcycles, vans, buses/coaches, and vehicles for sale and for hire. Lorries that constantly travel back and forth on ferries are not included in the records as these would distort the figures.
In the case of Alcudia, the vehicles that arrived included 16,878 that were carried by Corsica Ferries on the Toulon route. In 2023 there were 15,908.
The figures are pertinent to the Council of Mallorca's aim to regulate the number of hire cars and foreign-plated passenger vehicles entering the island. The law that the Council is working on, and which is to be presented to the Balearic Parliament for introduction next year, includes the requirement for car-hire firms to provide number-plate information for all vehicles that enter the island. Fines of up to €30,000 are being contemplated for violations of this requirement.
Another provision of the proposed law is to limit non-resident foreigners who own a home in Mallorca to just the one car per home and be subject to an island road tax.