Buying property in Mallorca: what foreign buyers need to know in 2026

How buying property in Mallorca differs from the rest of Spain

The legal steps are the same as anywhere in Spain, and our guide to buying property in Spain covers them in order. What changes in Mallorca is the tax bill, what you are allowed to do with the home and how much risk sits in the planning status. Buyers who expect to cover their costs with summer holiday lets, or who fall for a finca with an unlicensed extension, are the ones who get caught out.

Mallorca property tax on purchase: the Balearic ITP scale

Most regions charge a flat transfer tax. The Balearics use a sliding scale, like income tax: each rate applies only to the part of the price inside its band. The scale set by the Agència Tributària de les Illes Balears (ATIB) for purchases since 1 January 2023 is:

Worked examples

• €350,000 flat: 8% of €350,000 = €28,000.
• €750,000 house: €32,000 + €18,000 + 10% of €150,000 = €65,000 (8.7% overall).
• €2,500,000 villa: €32,000 + €18,000 + €40,000 + €120,000 + 13% of €500,000 = €275,000 (11% overall).

Tax is charged on the higher of the price you pay and the Catastro's reference value, so an under-declared price does not save anything. You file and pay with the ATIB within 30 working days of signing. Before 2023 the top band was 11.5% above €1 million; the 12% and 13% bands are what make Mallorca one of the dearest places in Spain to buy a luxury home.

New homes bought from a developer pay 10% IVA instead, plus stamp duty (AJD) at a general 1.5%. Law 4/2026, in force from 14 June 2026, widened the reliefs for residents buying a main home (young buyers, large families, people with a disability) and raised the price caps for them. These reliefs do not help a non-resident buying a second home. For all costs on top of the tax, see the cost of buying property in Spain.

Tourist licence in Mallorca: what you can and cannot let

If you plan to rent to holidaymakers, this is the most important check you will make. The rules have tightened in three layers.

1. No new licences in flats (whole Balearics)

Decreto-ley 4/2025, in force since 16 April 2025, stops new holiday-let declarations in homes under horizontal property, meaning apartments and most buildings with a community of owners. Terraced and semi-detached houses are excepted. It also raised fines for illegal letting to as much as €500,000.

2. Palma: houses are next

Palma city council has moved in 2026 to extend its ban on new tourist places from flats to single-family houses through a change to its General Plan. Check with the Ajuntament de Palma (Urbanisme) whether the change is final and in force for the property you want. Existing licences carry on. If you are buying Palma property, assume any holiday-let income must come from an existing, transferable licence.

3. Elsewhere on the island: limited places, bought from a pool

Outside Palma, a qualifying house still needs tourist places (plazas), which are capped across the island. New places are released through the Consell de Mallorca's tourist-accommodation pool (Consorci Borsa d'Allotjaments Turístics), which ran a call in March 2026. Availability and zoning vary by municipality, and many towns restrict holiday lets through their own plans.

Rustic land in Mallorca: fincas, pools and old extensions

Many buyers want a country house, and this is where planning risk is highest. Rural land is governed by the Balearic rustic land law (Ley 6/1997) and the Mallorca island plan (Plan Territorial de Mallorca). As a rule, a new house needs a plot of at least 14,000 m² on common rustic land and in agricultural or transition zones, and 50,000 m² in forest and landscape-protected areas, with only one home per plot. The date when a plot was split off also matters: older segregations can be treated differently from ones made after July 1997.

What this means when you buy an existing finca:

• Compare the built area on the Catastro, the Land Registry and the building licence. Extra rooms, guest houses, pools and porches often appear on one and not the others. Our referencia catastral and nota simple guides show what to look for.
• A building that is simply old is not automatically legal. It may be "out of order" (fuera de ordenación), which can limit extensions or rebuilding.
• You generally cannot split the land to sell or build a second house.

The extraordinary legalisation window

Balearic Law 7/2024 created a one-off procedure to legalise existing buildings, constructions and uses on rustic land where the authorities can no longer order demolition. The Consell de Mallorca applied it on the island by an agreement published in the BOIB on 15 February 2025, which opened a three-year window, so it runs until February 2028. Legalisation involves a payment to the authorities and professional fees, so if a finca relies on it, agree in the contract who does the paperwork and who pays, or reduce the price. Protected areas can be excluded, so get your architect to confirm eligibility before you sign. Our guide to buying land in Spain covers general rustic-land checks.

Palma property versus the rest of the island

Palma is the island's only city, with year-round services and the airport a short drive away, and most flats sold to foreigners are there or on the south-west coast. Because new tourist lets are banned in Palma flats and being restricted in houses, prices there reflect long-term use value rather than tourist income. In the north and east you are more likely to buy a village house or finca, where the rustic land and licence checks above matter more. Official price data for the region is only published at Balearic level by the INE: prices rose 13.7% in the year to the second quarter of 2026, against 12.2% nationally.

Buying a house in Mallorca as a non-resident

• You pay the general tax scale; the Balearic reliefs are for residents' main homes.
• You owe non-resident income tax each year on the property, whether or not you let it.
• Owning a home does not give non-EU buyers, including UK nationals, the right to live in Spain beyond 90 days in any 180.
• If the seller is non-resident, you withhold 3% of the price for the Tax Agency.

Before you pay any deposit, you can use our free property check: enter the address or referencia catastral and we'll get back to you by email. Then have an independent property lawyer confirm the planning and licence position.

Mallorca or somewhere else?

Ibiza shares the Balearic tax scale and the flat-letting ban, with its own island rules; see buying property in Ibiza. To compare Mallorca with the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, the Canaries, Madrid and the north on tax, letting rules and official prices, read the best places to buy property in Spain.