There is another move to try and restrict purchases of homes in the Balearics by foreigners. The El Pi party is to present a motion for the Council of Mallorca to urge the Spanish Government to push the EU into creating a special legal regime for the Balearics that would allow limitations on home purchases by foreign individuals and companies.
The party points out that twenty years ago 64% of homes in the Balearics belonged to single owners; 36% were owned by companies or individuals with multiple properties. These figures are now 54% and 46% respectively.
El Pi, who carry a fair amount of weight at municipal level in Mallorca, say these figures demonstrate a loss of purchasing power and residential autonomy for families and citizens of the islands. This no longer only affects young people, but also families, separated individuals, and workers who cannot access decent housing.
Spokesperson at the Council of Mallorca, Antoni Salas, says "they have tried to make us believe we are a wealthy society", while the reality is one of lost competitiveness, broken social cohesion, and impoverishment.
"Housing has become a safe and highly profitable speculative asset in a territory with unsustainable human pressure and a structural housing shortage." Large investment groups and foreign capital come to speculate "and further aggravate a problem that is already suffocating residents".
For this reason, he argues that the Spanish Government should promote this special legal regime within the EU, taking account of island status.