The Government opens itself to limiting the purchase of housing to non-residents if Brussels endorses it
The Executive will "evaluate" the legislative proposal that the European Commission has made this week
PalmaThe Government will "evaluate" the affordable housing bill that the European Commission put forward this week. The first vice-president, Antoni Costa, has assured that they will even consider limiting the purchase of second homes by non-residents if Brussels endorses it. He said this after the European Union (EU) raised the possibility of limiting the purchase of second homes, although it does not yet distinguish between residents and non-residents. Even so, Costa believes that this initiative "opens the door to legislation that gives this option to public administrations," and explained: "We are willing to analyze it if the door is opened".
The housing law that is subsequently to be processed in the European Parliament proposes measures so that territories and States can limit the rental of tourist apartments and the purchase of second homes to tackle rising prices and the lack of supply, although the text does not establish a distinction between residents or non-residents. The Eurobarometer of June 2025 found that 40% of Europeans consider affordable housing to be an immediate and urgent problem, and this percentage rises to 51% in cities. In the last ten years, the purchase price has risen on average by more than 60% and the rental price by 20% in the European Union as a whole. While a million Europeans are homeless, 20% of the housing stock in community territory is empty.
It is the first time that Brussels has supported on a European scale the possibility of restricting the purchase or rental of apartments to favor their use as primary residences. However, prohibiting the purchase of homes by non-residents remains difficult to apply in the EU. Although there are territories that allow restrictions in this regard, until now they had been treated as exceptions in community law, which establishes non-discrimination based on nationality within the European Union (EU). The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) admitted extending these exceptions, but only under certain circumstances.
In a statement, the Commission assures that the Affordable Housing Law "does not introduce any EU restriction on the purchase or use of second homes" or "short-term rentals", nor does it "grant national, regional or local authorities new powers to do so". However, if Brussels' proposal were approved, the law would establish "a common European framework that authorities must respect if they decide, by virtue of the powers at their disposal under national legislation, to adopt measures that affect the acquisition or use of housing for residential purposes".
Last February, the PP and Vox majority defeated a bill proposal from MÉS per Mallorca to prohibit the purchase of housing by non-residents and companies. Despite losing the vote in the regional Chamber, the eco-sovereignists have also raised the proposal to the Congress of Deputies. After the European pronouncement, the first vice president has defended that the Government will apply the measure if it considers that it works regardless of its "ideological basis".
Costa also highlighted that other measures included in the European proposal are in line with policies adopted by the Balearic Government, such as the limitation of holiday rentals and the streamlining of procedures for building public housing. He also justified, once again, the PP's refusal to apply a cap on rental prices by applying the state housing law. "We believe it is counterproductive and affects the most vulnerable families," he justified. "We will apply any measure that allows us an improvement, which we believe can be effective," he assured.
Appeals the transfer of migrant minors
On the other hand, the first vice-president has announced a new appeal against two resolutions from the Canary Islands and Melilla that establish the transfer of several unaccompanied migrant minors to the Balearic Islands. The Regional Advocacy has argued that neither of the two resolutions responds to the best interest of the minors nor are they duly motivated, because their repatriation through family reunification has not been considered beforehand. It considers that the transfer of minors cannot be done "in a generic or automatic way, but must respond to the personal circumstances of each one".
In this regard, Costa has attacked the Spanish government for its management of the migration crisis in Ceuta. "It was warned 72h before, and 80,000 people entered Ceuta without it doing absolutely anything," he said: "Pedro Sánchez's government is incapable of controlling the borders." Asked about the fact that the Balearic Islands only appear in a testimonial way in the declassified documents about Ceuta after the Executive insinuated that Sánchez was hiding a police report about a supposed high risk of arrivals to the archipelago, Costa has doubted the word of the Minister of the Interior. "It is the word of Mr. Fernando Grande-Marlaska," he explained: "We cannot trust a minister who is not capable of doing absolutely anything to control the migratory flows towards the Islands." Thus, he considered "justified" the "fear" of the Balearic Government after Sánchez implied during his appearance in Congress that he had received information that affected the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. "We do not know where this report is, we are in the hands of an incompetent government," he asserted.