The weekend got off to a chaotic start in Soller because of the new traffic regulations. The Low Emission Zone (LEZ) in Soller is now up and running and on Saturday faced its first big test: market day, the town centre closed to traffic and a new traffic map being used for the first time. The result: a busy morning and police officers educating drivers on the road. However, the local police managed to eventually resolve the problems many drivers faced.
The main problem is not the regulation itself, but GPS. Google Maps had not yet updated the changes and continues to send cars down streets that are no longer open to traffic. But now it appears that Soller has got over that hitch and that the tourist season in Mallorca no longer starts at Easter, but much earlier according to the hotel opening data provided by the Mallorca Hotel Federation (FEHM), which shows a definitive shift in the start of the season to the first quarter of the year.
‘We are not talking about a theoretical trend, but a real operational change,’ say sources from the hotel association chaired by Javier Vich. In March, more than 70% of hotels are open, especially in most areas of the Mallorcan coast, with percentages that were unthinkable just a few years ago at this time of year. In terms of regional details, Soller leads the way with 97.1% of its rooms in operation. It is followed by Santa Ponsa (88.1%), Pollensa and the Playa de Palma (both with 85%), Peguera and Palma (78.7%) and Camp de Mar (74.4%). ‘These figures confirm that the tourist calendar has changed structurally,’ insist sources from the hotel association
The pace is not only being maintained, but will intensify in April. In the first half of the month, the average number of openings in Mallorca will already reach 90%. Portals Nous and Soller will be operating at 100% capacity; Pollensa will reach 97.5%; Santa Ponsa 95.4% and the Playa de Palma 94.4%.
In the second half of the month, practically all tourist areas will be at full capacity: Playa de Muro will reach 99.8% of openings; Playa de Palma will reach 99.4%; Palmanova-Magalluf will reach 95.4%; Camp de Mar will reach 93.8% and Can Picafort will reach 93.4%. In May, the hotel sector is practically at full capacity. ‘The first quarter of 2026 exceeds the average level of openings for the same period in 2019 by ten points,’ the federation points out. They emphasise that this is not a one-off circumstance resulting from a good financial year, but rather a consolidated transformation of the production model.
The hotel association has formally communicated this new calendar to the public authorities, with the aim of adapting institutional planning to the new reality of the sector. Hoteliers are calling for mobility, public transport, essential services, operational planning and security measures to be adjusted to a scenario in which tourist activity is already intense from the first months of the year. ‘The production system has changed and public planning must keep pace,’ say sources from the Mallorcan hoteliers.
In their analysis, deseasonalisation is no longer an objective, but a measurable fact in terms of openings and real activity, which they attribute to the repositioning of the offer. The federation currently represents 866 establishments with a total of 202,895 beds, organised through 22 regional associations. Of these, 78% are hotels and, within this group, almost three out of four are four-star or higher. Establishments with fewer than 100 rooms also predominate, which paints a picture of a fragmented but modernised business fabric.
The rest are divided between tourist apartments (13%) and rural tourism establishments and inland hotels (9%). ‘This qualitative transformation, with higher standards, more services and greater specialisation, explains why 20% of hotels are now open all year round and in February almost four out of ten are already operational,’ according to the FEHM. The challenge, they insist, is for public infrastructure to advance at the same pace as the private sector, to ensure that this early start to the season ‘translates into competitiveness, quality of service and territorial balance’.
Bookings to the Balearics have grown by 17% in the last week compared to the same period last year and have risen by 25.3% compared to last week, according to data published on Monday by the Travelgate booking platform. With 14.3% of all bookings, the Balearic Islands remain the fourth most popular destination in Spain this week, behind Andalusia, which accounts for 17.9%; Andalusia, with 17.7%; and the Canary Islands, with 14.9%.
Some 36.8% of this week’s bookings nationwide were made more than three months in advance; 15.1% were made between 31 and 60 days in advance, and 10.8% between 15 and 30 days before travel. On the other hand, last-minute bookings (made the day before or on the day of travel) accounted for 8.8%.
Of the bookings recorded, 50.2% were made by couples and half of travellers (49.5%) booked between 2 and 5 nights. Spaniards lead the demand with 45.6% of tourist bookings made this week, followed by the British (25.3%) and Germans (4.5%).