Windows in the wall of a block of flats. Photo Credit, Jan Van Der Wolf, Pexels
Projects to supply more affordable housing for residents of Mallorca are currently underway. With more people struggling to make ends meet, is this what the island needs?
In a development said to have cost some 7.9 million euros, the Balearic Institute of Inhabitation (IBAVI) has finalised a project this week aimed at providing affordable housing for people on a low income. The block of flats, which has a surface area of 4,769 square metres, is comprised of 57 individual apartments – 3 of which have been expertly adapted for the disabled – and will be rented out for a subsidised fee to the elderly, disabled, and young people who as yet cannot afford a standard rent.
The flats are located in the Es Molinar area of Palma, in Calle de Cuba, and according to the IBAVI, almost all 57 flats have already secured tenants, with 42 single people and 7 couples receiving the keys to their new home last Monday, September 30. The majority of new tenants are over 65-years-old, with 39 of them being within this age group, whilst the remaining 15 tenants are aged younger than 35. Monthly rental ranges from between some 400-600 euros and includes expenses, and is tailored to the inhabitant´s income, ensuring that the rent does not exceed 30 percent of their monthly salary.
The development began construction in 2020 but was only completed in July this year, due to a variety of factors including a financial crisis in which the original construction company ended up bankrupt last October 2023, as well as delays in approval from the Palma City Council.
More affordable housing projects are already planned in Mallorca
The completion of this project coincides with a new initiative by the government that will involve the free distribution of land to housing construction companies by 6 local municipalities, with the end goal of providing more affordable housing. Areas covered by the initiative include Palma, Calvià, Felanitx, Andratx, Soller and Santanyi, and the project, which is anticipated to provide some 1,800 new homes, is intended to commence in 2026.
Mallorca is a curious contrast between the rich and the not so rich, being host to holiday homes of many celebrities, including Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones and the Schumacher family, with mansions and gated communities scattered across the island, whilst other neighbourhoods are clearly in poverty. Boundaries between areas where the extremely wealthy live and where those on a low income reside are sometimes blurry, and although the island is one of the biggest in the Mediterranean Sea, measuring in at 3,640 square kilometres, it´s actually not much bigger than Cornwall, in the UK, which measures 3,563 square kilometres, to put things into perspective, meaning that the extremely rich and extremely poor are literally living on each others´ doorsteps in many parts of the island.
