Valldemossa Tops the List: What Does the High Average Income Really Mean?

Valldemossa at the top – but who benefits from the prosperity?

When you walk through Valldemossa on a clear morning, the bell of the charterhouse having just faded, the bread from the bakery still warm in your hands and the sun wetting the winding roads, the statistic almost seems obvious: the municipality had the highest average net income in the Balearic Islands in 2023 – around €22,100 per person per year. Yet the central question remains: does this average really say anything about the quality of life of the people who live and work here?

What lies behind the average

Averages are elegant numbers, but they can also smooth things over. In Valldemossa, several factors come together that pull the average upward: affluent second-home owners, successful holiday rentals, owners with rental income and service providers who benefit from tourism. At the same time, you see older neighbors carrying shopping bags in the side streets, craftsmen lugging their tools early in the morning, and restaurants that hum in high season and quiet down in winter. This mix creates a distorted picture – the average rises even though many households are not necessarily better off.

Sometimes structural effects also play a role: a municipality with a few very wealthy households and many average incomes will have a high mean. Age structure, ownership patterns and seasonal employment are also important factors. A high average therefore says nothing about distributional fairness, poverty at the lower end or the stability of incomes throughout the year.

The less noticed aspects

Little discussed is the seasonal imbalance: many jobs related to tourism and holiday rentals are not secured year-round. In that sense, the annual net income can be misleading if it is mainly earned in peak months. The role of second homes and renovation investments also often remains invisible in the statistics: owners who are only there part of the time contribute little to the local social fabric but raise property prices and the availability of local services.

Added to this is the demographic development: young people move to cities with more job opportunities – often to Palma or the mainland. Older residents with fixed pensions remain, which can also influence average values. The result is gaps in the local labor market, empty shops on side streets and a change in public space that you notice in stickers on lampposts or closed storefronts.

Concrete challenges and brief solutions

Against this background, the numbers are more than a catchy headline for policymakers. They are a toolbox: for social planning, infrastructure and housing market regulation. Concrete measures could include:

1. Better indicators: In addition to the average, median income, poverty rates and seasonal income data should be published. This makes distribution clearer.

2. Securing housing: Municipal support programs for locals, quotas for affordable housing in new developments and stricter regulation of holiday rentals could relieve market pressure.

3. Fiscal levers: Directing revenue from the tourism levy more specifically to social projects, local supply and infrastructure – so that not only statistics benefit, but everyday life as well.

4. Promoting a year-round economy: Creating incentives for crafts, small manufacturing and cultural projects outside the season so that incomes become more stable.

A look on the ground — not just on paper

If you stroll along the plaza in Valldemossa on a Saturday, you notice the sound of different realities: tourists chatting, the hammering of craftsmen, the quieter conversation of older residents on a bench. This soundscape tells more than the bare number. Statistics are a snapshot; local politics and neighborhood initiatives have to think the story further.

The highest average income is news — but not a definitive diagnosis. If those who truly want Valldemossa to remain livable for all age groups and income levels, they should see the numbers as a starting point: for targeted data collection, concrete action and the question of how to distribute prosperity more fairly. That may sound less romantic than a sunrise over the Sierra, but it is more important for the future of the place.