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Illegal clampdown
A CLAMPDOWN on illegal tourist lets in Palma is expected to uncover more than 500 cases this month.
Mallorca Island Council and the Balearic Islands University have joined forces to investigate up to 20,000 multifamily properties in the capital to check whether they are being offered for unlicensed holiday rentals. To do so they will use data from adverts on online rental platforms to draw up heat maps to determine the island’s ‘hot points’ and crosscheck the information with the municipal town planning register.
The Council has also employed 20 inspectors to extend checks over afternoons and weekends to detect adverts for unlicensed lets published during these periods.
Last year 237 illegal holiday rentals were discovered in Mallorca, the vast majority of which were in Palma. The plan is to detect between 800 and 1,000 this year. The in spectors will reportedly also pose as customers and book holiday rentals at multifamily homes that are not correctly geolocated through online platforms to check for any irregularities. Offering unlicensed holiday lets in multifamily properties is classed as a very serious offence in Palma, with fines ranging from €40,000 to €400,000.
More than 40 volunteers from different ages joined in the effort to restore the site to its former beauty. The wetland had been long neglected and was previously used as a dumping ground, resulting in the accumulation of garbage and debris that threatened the ecosystem of the area. However, with the joint efforts of WWF, Alcudia Town Hall, the Fundación Biodiversidad and recent funding from the EU’s Next Generation funds, the wetlands are slowly but surely recovering. During the cleanup, the Foundation collected over half a tonne of rubbish and more than 200 glass bottles from the area. “We witnessed firsthand the impact small actions have on the environment,” said a Foundation spokesperson.
