Spokesperson for the party, Lluís Apesteguia, aims to address the "housing emergency" that the island is experiencing, due to the dramatic increases in housing prices and rents.
Més per Mallorca want to be able to guarantee that residents have access to "decent and affordable" housing, and believe that a ban the sale of holiday homes for non-residents will ease the situation.
This would apply to both Spanish and foreign nationals hoping to buy a second home on the biggest Balearic island without residing there.
According to data from Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE), the average price of properties in the Balearics has risen 30 percent in the last five years, while rent has increased by 40 percent.
Property portal Idealista puts the current price per square metre in Palma de Mallorca at €4,308 /m2, which is 10.2 percent more than September 2023.
READ ALSO: What would happen if Spain banned foreigners from buying property?
Apesteguia has stressed that this situation especially affects young people and families with low incomes who are finding it increasingly difficult to find good and affordable housing.
It is time to intervene in the real estate market, he said. "Houses are for living, not for doing business".
The bill proposes that municipalities with ‘stressed’ real estate markets can apply a moratorium on the purchase and sale of homes to non-residents . It also aims to restrict the sale of properties by legal entities and for the purchase of second homes in certain areas to be restricted.
For a municipality to apply these restrictions, it must meet at least three of the requirements established in article 6 of the law.
These include a disproportionate increase in the purchase or rental price of homes, the existence of a high number of empty homes or tourist accommodation, and an average cost of mortgages or rentals must be greater than 50 percent of the average salary in the Balearic Islands.
The duration of these restrictions will be a period of ten years, after which a decision may be made to renew or terminate them, depending on whether the real estate market has stabilised.
READ ALSO: Why Spain is unlikely to ever ban foreigners from buying property
Selling real estate to foreigners is a lucrative business in Mallorca and sometimes they are even favoured over locals.
In fact, in Colònia de Sant Jordi in the southeast of the island, luxury developer TM Real Estate has been accused of including a clause in the sales contracts that prohibits the purchase of these apartments to tax residents in Spain, in essence excluding most Spaniards.
They have denied the allegations putting out a statement saying “any person of any nationality" can purchase a home marketed by this company.
Whether this is true or not remains to be seen, but it's clear that many locals have been priced out of these luxury buildings and can’t afford to purchase them, even if they’re allowed.
Could Mallorca really ban non-residents from buying property?
Mallorca is not the first area of Spain to suggest banning non-residents from buying property. In 2022, the Canary nationalist political party Nueva Canarias demanded that the regional government limit the large number of property purchases by non-residents in the archipelago, but nothing was actually passed.
The Balearic Islands also suggested similar later on that same year, with the regional Senate agreeing to discuss solutions.
According to Idealista, EU legislation makes a total ban on property purchases almost impossible as it is based on the principles of the free movement of people and capital.
It means that any EU citizen essentially has the right to purchase property in any member state without significant restrictions.
Therefore, it’s unlikely that Més per Mallorca will get their bill passed in local government.
While there is a severe housing crisis in the Balearics, like there is across much of Spain, with skyrocketing prices and little availability, it’s a tricky situation and many believe that banning foreign buyers won’t solve the problems.
For example, foreign homeowners in Spain make a huge contribution to the Spanish economy. In 2022 foreigners with a second home in Spain contributed €6.35 billion to Spanish GDP and generated more than 105,000 jobs in the tourism sector. That's according to the study "The economic impact of residential tourism in Spain" for the Spanish Association of Developers and Builders (APCE), conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
In their eyes, a property ban for non-residents will cause more financial issues to arise if the legislation were ever to pass.
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