Lloguer Segur in Reality: Why the Rental Program in Mallorca Brings Almost No Apartments

Lloguer Segur in reality: Why the rental program in Mallorca brings almost no apartments

Key question: Why does a state-backed rental program attract so few owners while tenants must spend more than half their income on housing?

On a cool morning with scattered clouds over the Passeig Mallorca and the sound of delivery vans at the Mercat de l'Olivar, the debate about housing can sound abstract. For many families it is not: they calculate month after month whether the rent or the groceries can be paid first. The regional government launched the Lloguer Segur program at the end of 2024 – aiming to secure up to 3,000 vacant apartments by offering state guarantees to landlords. Since then, exactly 82 apartments have been placed. A clear sign that something fundamental is not working.

The record is sobering. President Marga Prohens defends the offer and stresses that the apartments are being offered below market prices. At the same time she blames legal practice: private owners fear that tenants will default and rely on lengthy procedures. On the other hand, the opposition rightly points out that many properties are kept as second homes or for tourist purposes and remain vacant for much of the year.

A second look at the numbers reveals more gaps: platform data show that in Palma the vacation rentals boom in Mallorca in the first quarter and that a significant share of available apartments is now used for short-term rentals, while the traditional long-term market is hardly growing. Consumer groups report that households spend more than 60 percent of their income on housing – well above the internationally recommended ceiling of around 30 percent. Living costs are already high here: per-capita food expenditure in 2025 was around €2,130 per year, roughly 15 percent above the Spanish average.

Critical analysis: Why doesn't Lloguer Segur work?

First: trust and speed are missing. A state guarantee is of little use if processing is complicated or decisions take months. Second: a lack of incentives for the right owners. Many owners who leave apartments empty are interested in returns from seasonal rentals or capital appreciation – a pure guarantee system does not sufficiently address these motives. Third: market dynamics and the platform economy. Short-term rentals are lucrative; they displace long-term offers, especially in central neighbourhoods of Palma.

What is missing from the public debate

There is a lot of talk about “empty apartments,” but little about the diversity of owners: heirs, small private landlords, banks, investment funds. Precise data are often missing; for example, nearly 8,000 unregistered holiday apartments in Mallorca have been reported, as is information about how many apartments are empty due to renovations, regulatory uncertainty or simply because owners earn more from tourism. The role of municipalities – in questions such as vacancy levies, inspections or fast placement services – is also discussed too rarely in concrete terms.

Everyday scene: Walking through Son Espanyolet you see them: "Se vende" signs, dusty balconies, at night the rattling of suitcases in holiday apartments. Next to a supermarket two neighbours discuss rising utility costs and worry that their street corner will soon consist only of tourists. This is not an abstract statistics topic; this is the block where people live.

Concrete approaches

1) Cut red tape: a central, digital one-stop office for Lloguer Segur cases that handles eligibility, payment of the guarantee and any placement within a few weeks. 2) Targeted incentives: tax relief or temporary subsidies for owners who commit to long-term rentals, combined with stricter rules for short-term lets in particularly affected neighbourhoods. 3) Vacant-housing register: mandatory declarations of actual use – vacant, used for tourism, under renovation – so policy makers know who measures will affect. 4) Activate municipal tools: vacancy levies, higher tax rates for second and multiple-occupied properties or conditions on letting to tourists. 5) Fast legal aid and prevention of abuse: mediation centres, faster proceedings against rent defaulters and clear contact points for landlords who fear legal uncertainty. 6) Pilot projects in hotspots: Palma neighbourhoods with particularly high pressure (e.g. La Soledat, El Molinar) should be prioritised with concrete targets and evaluated incentives.

Conclusion

The failure of Lloguer Segur in its current form is less proof of the impossibility of state intervention than an indication that measures without administrative speed, a solid data basis and targeted incentives for the right recipients will not change the market. Anyone standing in the Plaça Major in the morning watching the delivery drivers will quickly notice: pragmatic solutions are needed that work on the streets of the city. If politics now only loudly points fingers, houses will remain empty and people will stay in cramped flats. In short: if we want housing not to become a luxury, we must address the mechanics of the market where they really matter – with owners, platforms and municipal governance.