In the last six years, 1,002 new villas have been built in the rural land of Mallorca and up to 1,052 more homes have been extended between 2015 and 2021. This is revealed by a study by Terraferida, which counts the area developed by these new constructions at 4.1 km² in this period. The 1,002 new constructions have consumed 3.53 km² while the extensions have consumed or urbanised 0.58 km². According to the platform, these new homes have transformed an area of rural land equivalent to three times the historic centre of Palma.

Through an analysis of aerial photographs from these years, they have been able to detect, delimit and classify the main territorial changes. The preliminary results indicate that the construction of large villas on rural land is the most important territorial change on the island in the last 6 years, and they illustrate this with a map showing these new constructions.

mapa nuevos unifamiliares suelo rústico mallorca

Excessive surface area

The data also show that the average floor area occupied by each dwelling is 3,500 m², which is 11.5 times the 300 m² permitted for building.
This is due to outbuildings and other elements such as roads, swimming pools, car parks, etc. These data are added to the previous research carried out by Terraferida to determine the available building capacity on rural land, which located 53,000 built dwellings, 11,200 buildable plots and 7,400 expandable buildings.

Among the conclusions drawn from the study, they speak of a “construction epidemic aimed at a small segment of the population with very high purchasing power”. And they warn that the 4.1 km² of urbanised land within rustic land makes “only” around 3,000 new residential places possible when that surface area, in the centre of Palma, is equivalent to 137,000 inhabitants. “That is 40 times more people in the same space”.

Santanyí, Manacor, Felanitx, Campos, Ses Salines and Llucmajor top the ranking of municipalities with the largest area occupied by new single-family homes.

Call for a new Island Territorial Plan

The preliminary study includes several proposals from Terraferida after highlighting the data:

  • An immediate moratorium on residential construction on rural land and the definitive protection of rural land.
  • A new Insular Territorial Plan (PTI) that effectively protects it and favours agricultural, natural and educational uses.
  • A plan for the rehabilitation of housing within the historic centres of the towns and cities of Mallorca with social criteria and which allows for the creation of new workplaces if necessary.
  • Significant reinforcement of the inspection of tourist rentals and the Agency for the Defence of the Territory to also combat illegality.