More social housing from 2026: What the Balearic Islands are really planning — and what's missing

More social housing from 2026: What the Balearic Islands are really planning — and what's missing

An immediate housing program, many questions

At the Plaça de Cort in Palma, on a December morning you can hear not only pigeons and delivery vans but increasingly the occasional knock as plans are examined somewhere. The Balearic government has announced a plan: from 2026, the IBAVI housing institute will invest around €228 million to build roughly 1,200 public apartments. On paper this sounds like a clear signal against housing pressure on Mallorca. In practice, questions arise immediately — and not all of them have been answered so far.

Key question: Are the funds, the timetable and the rules truly sufficient to create permanently affordable housing for the people who live and work here?

The announced immediate program rests on two cornerstones mentioned in the statement: first, an express approval procedure that should shorten planning times by one to three years depending on the municipality; second, an access restriction: only people with at least five years of residence on the islands would be eligible. Both points are relevant — and both raise new problems.

Critical analysis: Speeding up permits can help if it goes hand in hand with clear land-use strategies and a reliable financing path for construction. But acceleration alone does not solve the issue of suitable plots, social infrastructure and long-term management. €228 million is a significant sum — but is it enough for 1,200 apartments on a large island where land prices and construction costs remain high? Without a breakdown by location, type (family units, one-bed flats, accessible units) and rental model, it remains an abstract figure.

The five-year residence requirement is intended to secure the homes for "people from here." Understandable — and politically popular. Practically, however, it also excludes people in precarious employment who may have moved to the islands only recently, even if they work in key sectors. What about single parents, seasonal workers with many years of ties to Mallorca, or young people born here who were temporarily away for studies?

What is missing from the public debate: The discussion often revolves around numbers and speed, less about how the apartments will remain affordable in the long term. Who will manage them later? What rules will prevent speculation? How will tenants be selected, and what rent or income caps will apply? Also rarely discussed are the consequences for municipalities with little available land — will they densify, adjust building heights, or rely on repurposing vacant building stock?

A typical morning in Son Gotleu or in a suburb like Coll d’en Rabassa illustrates the dilemma: on one hand craftsmen renovating apartments, on the other people who, despite having jobs, sleep in overpriced shared rooms at night. The new announcement can mean hope for them — but only if implementation and everyday protection are considered together.

Concrete solutions: 1) Transparent site list: The government should disclose in which municipalities the IBAVI projects will be located, the planned scales and which plots will be used (vertical extensions, repurposing, new builds). 2) Graduated access model: Instead of a rigid time threshold, points could be awarded for local roots, length of employment and family situation — preventing urgent needs from being excluded by formalism. 3) Long-term rent binding: Subsidised apartments must be linked to rent caps and resale/relocation controls so they do not return to the open market after a short time. 4) Regional coordination: Municipalities with little space need flexible solutions — incentives for reusing vacant office space or public-private cooperation models could help. 5) Local participation: Neighborhood forums and transparent allocation criteria build trust and reduce conflicts around densification.

The Balearic government has provided the funds and promised an accelerated procedure — it's a start. What will be decisive is how quickly the details are presented and whether planning, social criteria and administrative action are linked. Without that connection, a scenario threatens that is often seen here: announcements and construction sites, but little demonstrable relief for those who board buses in Palma in the morning to go to work.

Conclusion: The 1,200 apartments are not a cure-all, but a possible part of the answer to housing pressure. If the government now focuses on transparency, regional coordination and long-term rent security, the number could become a real piece of urban space — for people who live and work on Mallorca permanently.