Well, that escalated quickly.
This week in the Balearic Parliament, the PP and Vox political parties voted down a proposal from Més per Mallorca that would have restricted home purchases to people who’ve been resident in the islands for at least three consecutive years.
Yes, three years’ proven residency required before you could buy a property.
Let’s cut to the chase as I was sent the news coverage by a few concerned people.. It ain’t gonna happen!
What was the proposal? In municipalities where the housing market is deemed “especially tense,” only buyers who could prove three years of habitual residence in the Balearics would be allowed to purchase.
It’s not about nationality, they said, it’s about residency.
On paper, it sounds decisive and the numbers being quoted are dramatic:
82% of new homes built are not primary residences. Purchase prices have risen six times faster than wages. Rental prices have risen eight times faster. A Balearic family would need 63.5 years (allocating 30% of income) to buy a home.
Those pressures are real but restricting who can buy property based on length of residence? That’s not bold policy, that’s legal fantasy. In fact it’s a legal brick wall.
PP’s Margalida Pocoví called it “jurídicamente inviable.” Translation: unconstitutional and contrary to European law.
She’s absolutely spot on.
Although some conveniently forget, Spain is bound by EU treaties. Free movement of capital is a cornerstone of European law. Property rights are protected. A regional parliament cannot simply decide to suspend those rights because the market is tough.
Even if this had passed it would have been challenged immediately and suspended. You cannot override European law with a regional housing bill, no matter how loudly you argue.
Let’s look at political theatre vs legal reality.
Lluís Apesteguia of Més per Mallorca accused opponents of siding with “speculators.”
Strong rhetoric. Great headlines.
But rhetoric doesn’t rewrite EU treaties.
You can debate housing policy all day long, and we should to be honest, given the state of Balearic housing but pretending this measure was ever realistically enforceable is misleading at best.
Let’s Be Clear. The Balearics has:
Finite land. Massive international demand. A tourism-driven economy. Slow planning and constrained supply
That is the structural issue.
You do not fix a supply imbalance by proposing legally unenforceable demand bans.
Let’s also address the Clickbait. Please ignore the dramatic headlines and social media panic. This was never going to happen. It’s against Spanish constitutional principles and European law. Full stop.
The left wing parties can shout all they want but they cannot rewrite EU treaties from Palma. The measure was politically loud but legally hollow.
So if you saw posts suggesting non-residents were about to be banned from buying in Ibiza or Mallorca you can scroll on. They were always wide of the mark and frankly uninformed. it’s business as usual until Spain leaves the EU and that isn’t happening.
MAN IN SAN AN by Martin Makepeace 