Hotel owners in Majorca have hit out at recent changes to tourist taxes, holiday lets and water charges on the Spanish island.
Marga Prohens, President of the Balearic Islands,made an announcement in parliament about tackling current mass tourism.
She revealed that when the current ban suspension of new tourist accommodation places is lifted, there will be a ban on new holiday rental licenses for apartments.
However, hoteliers say that all existing supply of holiday apartments should be removed.
The Mallorca Hoteliers Federation responded angrily to the changes and accused President Prohens of showing little courage and ambition and warned the government had missed “a golden opportunity” to bring back housing to residential use.
The Federation argued that continuing to distribute housing for holiday rental will “worsen the shortage” of flats available on the housing market for “citizens, public and private sector workers and young people who aspire to emancipate themselves”.
They also said: “The ground is being paved for the perpetuation of the proliferation of illegal supply.”
The tourist tax, which varies between €1 and €4 (£0.84 – £3.34) per person depending on the accommodation type, is expected to increase in June, July and August 2025, and hotel owners are not happy about it.
They added: “We do not see how tourists will understand we welcome them to the islands by charging them even more without any improvement or transparency in how the tax is used.”
President Prophen also addressed an increase in the water rate for “large consumers” in 2025. Hotel owners dubbed the rule as “discriminatory.” However, the president shared that the idea behind it is that “those who consume more pay more”.
According to the Majorca Daily Bulletin, The Civil Society Forum has been in talks with the Mallorca Hoteliers Federation about the island’s current overtourism issues, and there is hope that they can come up with bilateral proposals before Christmas and “make things easier for the government”, with a meeting planned for November 25.
