Palma’s Town Planning Department will ban the increase in new tourist rental accommodation throughout the municipality, in any type of housing, on Tuesday, the City Council said in a statement.
The Town Planning Department will initially approve the specific modification of the 2023 General Plan relating to tourist stays in homes (ETV).
The project, drafted by technicians from the Urban Planning Department, aims to declare the entire municipality a single zone unsuitable for the commercialisation of ETVs, which will prevent any increase in the number of places currently available.
Palma currently has 4,473 tourist accommodation places in homes distributed across 632 properties, of which 381 are located in Palma, 76 in the Playa de Palma and Can Pastilla, and 175 in rural areas. The approval of this amendment paves the way for a gradual reduction in these places as definitive cancellations occur.
The amendment to the General Plan will also make it impossible to renew non-permanent ETVs, as well as to relocate or transfer currently authorised places to other locations, as they do not comply with the urban planning condition of being in a suitable area. The forecast growth of 374 new tourist rental places, of which 231 corresponded to Palma city and 143 to rural areas, has been eliminated.
According to the council, this amendment aims to reduce the maximum number of ETV places in the municipality, encourage a gradual decrease in the existing supply and strengthen the control of illegal tourist accommodation. The initiative fulfils the commitment made by the Mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez Llabrés, to ban tourist rentals in the city as part of an overall strategy aimed at improving the quality of the destination, combating illegal supply and advancing the comprehensive renovation of Palma.
The measure will initially be approved by the Town Planning Department before being forwarded to the Governing Board and submitted to the Plenary. This action will be joined by others already announced, such as the suspension of the opening of new hostels and the municipal intention to ban “party boats” on the Paseo Maritimo, which has been forwarded to the Balearic Islands Port Authority.
The initiative is accompanied by other measures already approved to improve the quality of the destination, such as the Ordinance for the Promotion of Civic Coexistence, the reinforcement of the police presence in the Playa de Palma, the implementation of a Global Action Plan in this area and the creation of the Demographic and Tourist Control Centre, integrated into the municipal innovation strategy.