Despite the threats of government crackdowns, warnings and hefty fines, a Spanish government report has claimed there are 7,000 holiday apartments that are still being rented out illegally in the Balearic Islands.

According to government minister Pablo Bustinduy, these apartments had been located on social media sites without the appropriate licences and permits. 

These apartments are blamed by tour firms and hoteliers for causing “tourist overcrowding,” which led to anti-tourism protests across the archipelago and Spain in general last summer. 

Not only do people who stay in these apartments avoid paying the much-needed tourist tax, but the apartment owners are also in breach of a series of Balearic laws and regulations. 

Hoteliers have claimed these illegal holiday lets are responsible for the ills affecting the tourist industry and have called for radical action. 

Even British tour firms have weighed in on the crisis, demanding that the Balearics do more to stamp out the illegal trade. 

Jet2 boss Steve Heapy recently dismissed the common defence given by authorities across Europe that it is too difficult to monitor how many properties are being rented out by unlicensed Airbnb hosts.

He argued: “They [authorities] say it’s too hard to regulate, but it isn’t. All they need to do is book a property on Airbnb, find out who owns it, go and knock on the door and say, ‘Hi, I’m from the local government. I’d like to see your tourism licence, your health and safety certificate and your tax return’.

“If they can’t give you those three things, fine them 200,000 euros. The number of properties would drop by 95% overnight. That would mean the protests would stop.”

Mr Bustinduy presented the report in Ibiza and welcomed efforts by the Balearic government to try and tackle the problem.

Some 20,000 protesters took to the streets of the Majorcan capital, Palma in a huge demonstration against mass tourism last July. 

Holding banners reading: “Let’s change course and set limits on tourism”, the rally saw demands for changes to the current tourism model that they say is destroying the Spanish island. 

“Your luxury, our misery,” read another placard, while a third said: “This isn’t tourismophobia, it’s numbers: 1,232,014 residents, 18 million tourists.”

According to EuroWeekly News, the Balearic Islands welcomed over 15.3 million international tourists, a 6.15% increase from the previous year. Spain recorded nearly 93.8 million tourists for the entire year, a 10.1% rise compared to 2023, setting a new all-time record.

This figure dwarfs the full-time population of the archipelago, which stood at just 1.24 million as of July 2024. Majorca was the most populated, with a population of over 962,000.