How Many Mallorca Holiday Apartments Are Really Illegal? A Numbers Clash Between Madrid and the Consell

A dispute that smells like more than numbers

As I walk along Passeig del Born in the morning and see the holidaymakers with their suitcases, I sometimes ask myself: are these apartments all properly checked? The answer is more complicated than you think. Madrid and the Consell are currently waging a public feud over how many holiday accommodations on Mallorca actually breach the rules.

The bare numbers — a quick summary

The Spanish Ministry of Housing has marked tens of thousands of addresses nationwide as allegedly illegal. For the Balearics, it cites several thousand cases that have no or incomplete NRU assignment. The Consell de Mallorca responds with an almost opposite tally: in an inspection of around 1,341 listed properties, only twelve were identified as clearly illegal — fewer than one in a hundred.

What exactly is it about?

Since Royal Decree 1312/2024, holiday accommodations require a unified registration number (NRU) and a cadastral reference when offered on online portals. Many advertisers have not yet fully supplied the new papers. The ministry interprets this strictly: no NRU, no green light. The island council, by contrast, often sees only a formal backlog, not necessarily illegal use.

Gray rather than black-and-white

Especially tricky are short-term rentals of several months that are officially reported as long-term rentals but practically used like holiday apartments. I know landlords in Santa Catalina who say: "We have always had all the permits, but the new registration has been pending for months." Such cases land in a gray area — neither clearly legal nor immediately illegal.

Who decides what is legal?

The ministry is now setting central standards that apply nationwide. The Consell emphasizes local expertise: years-long permitting processes, municipal notices, neighbors who have seen the notices. The result is a credibility duel. Who is right is ultimately decided by the exact examination of each individual case — and that takes time.

My observation: numbers alone say little if it is not openly communicated which criteria were applied. For vacationers and neighbors, transparency is now the most important thing — and a bit less political rhetoric.