🔗https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBxQbU2VLWY
The documentary “El lado oscuro del turismo: la crisis de la vivienda en Mallorca” (2024), broadcast as part of the “ARTE Regards” programme by the European cultural channel ARTE, examines the impact of tourism on access to housing on the island. The film, originally titled in German “Re: Wohnungsnot auf Mallorca”, was broadcast on 19 December 2024 and remains available in the ARTE media library until 17 December 2025.
The report combines economic data with testimonies from residents affected by rising rents. Among the cases featured is that of Begoña and Héctor, a mother and her son who, despite having a monthly income of around €2,500, are forced to live in a caravan in Palma because they cannot find an affordable flat. The documentary also follows Christofer, a 22-year-old medical student who pays €600 per month for a basement room with poor living conditions.
These stories are framed within a context of strong real-estate pressure. Research from the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) describes the region’s economic model as a “tourism monoculture”, generating social and territorial tensions. Over recent decades, rental prices have increased significantly while the available housing supply has declined.
According to data from the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE), the Balearic Islands remain one of the regions with the highest proportion of tourist accommodation, accounting for around 2.97% of the residential housing stock, well above other territories in Spain. This situation has contributed to growing social discontent and citizen mobilisations across the island.
The ARTE documentary therefore offers a portrait of the housing crisis in Mallorca, showing how the success of the tourism model coexists with increasing difficulties for local residents to access housing in their own territory.
📸 Demonstration in Mallorca protesting housing prices. Source: Diario de Mallorca
