Mallorca cracks down on illegal holiday rentals with new app

The Balearic Islands government is trying to promote a more sustainable tourism model

App allows visitors to check holiday properties are legal (Getty/iStock)

Holidaymakers planning a trip to Mallorca are being encouraged to check if the holiday rental they are booking is illegal via a new app launched by the Balearic Islands government.

Part of a wider scheme to position the islands as a more sustainable tourism destination, the Holiday Rental Check Mallorca app will allow visitors to search for holiday homes while ensuring they comply with rental regulations.

There’s also a map function, which allows users to search for properties by location.

“We recognise our responsibility to protect our visitors and to be transparent with our rules and regulations,” Balearic minister for innovation, research and tourism, Bel Busquet, said.

“The new app allows visitors to have instant access to all the information they need about rental homes and to avoid any risks involved with renting illegal properties.

“Tourism continues to be a main contributor to the Balearic island economy and we take on board the challenges and concerns of both locals and visitors.

“Our aim is to develop a long term and sustainable tourism strategy, which provides the maximum benefit for islanders and visitors.”

The app is available in four languages: English, Catalan, Spanish and German.

Visitors who book a holiday rental that doesn’t comply with regulations won’t be prosecuted but do run the risk of arriving to find the property shut down with little chance of getting their money back.

The app is one element of a much larger plan to change Mallorca’s image.

Just last week, calls were made to curb party boats around the island due to their “excessive noise”.

A Non-Parliamentary Proposal (NLP), with concrete measures to reduce the impact of the noisy “booze cruises”, was presented on 27 August by Més per Mallorca (MES), a political coalition formed by the Socialist Party of Mallorca, IniciativaVerds and Entesa per Mallorca.

Neus Truyol, councillor for Palma, said that the boat trips were an example of “bad tourist activity” that “endangers the economic model towards which we want to go“.

In July, the Balearic Government also proposed new rules to ban unlimited alcohol in all-inclusive resorts.

Calvia Council, the municipality home to notorious party resort Magaluf, started the process of cleaning up the town’s image in 2015, bringing in rules to “punish uncivic behaviour” according to a council spokesperson. A host of other restrictions were added in autumn 2016, and in 2017 the new rules were enforced for the first time, with extra police officers on hand to ensure holidaymakers complied.

The rules prohibit defecating in public places, having sex in public, being naked in public, as well as littering, tearing branches off trees and playing music above 65 decibels.