The Balearic parliament rejected a call by the Mallorca nationalists to ban the sale of homes in the Balearics to non-residents in a parliamentary vote in Palma today. Balearic President Marga Prohens went even further and accused them of "time wasting" and proposing "headline grabbing legislation."
The votes of the ruling Partido Popular and Vox was enough to torpedo the motion which was supported by various left-wing and nationalists parties.
The Partido Popular said that the legislation broke European law and would even make the lack of affordable housing even more pronounced.
The National and International Real Estate Agencies (ABINI) warned last week that limiting purchases based on residence or nationality is legally dubious, creates uncertainty and will not solve the structural problem. “Restricting buyers does not create a single additional home. If the housing stock is not expanded, prices will not fall structurally,” they said.
ABINI said that for decades, no government in the Balearic Islands, regardless of political affiliation, has been able to provide a structural response to the housing problem. Not enough supply has been generated to keep pace with population growth and demand pressure, and this accumulated deficit is now the real source of price tension.