Homelessness, a symptom of collective failure
In Mallorca, homelessness has ceased to be a marginal phenomenon and has become a structural symptom of collective failure. Along the highways, under the bridges of the ring road, on vacant lots, and in almost invisible corners of Palma, tents, shacks made of plastic and wood, and camper vans—which are, in reality, another facet of the same precariousness—are multiplying. And yet, public administrations continue to act as if all this doesn't exist or as a mere anecdote. They don't know how many settlements there are, how many people live there, what their conditions are, or what their needs are. And if you don't know, it doesn't exist, and you can't offer solutions. Ignorance is, all too often, a mechanism of institutional defense.
This situation is not the result of a life choice but of a system that expels. Almost all of the people who eke out a living in tents or caravans would like a home. And, in fact, they perpetuate this pattern as much as they can to maintain a modicum of dignity.
The root of the problem is that housing in the Balearic Islands has become a luxury. For years, the market has lost all connection with people's actual income. Even people with stable jobs can't afford to rent in Mallorca—let alone Ibiza. The cost of living has become detached from reality. There's money and housing for some, but not for others, the most vulnerable.
The latest report published by the Mallorcan Institute of Social Affairs, corresponding to 2023, already warned of a 112% increase in homelessness between 2019 and 2023. But those figures were insufficient, incomplete, poorly calculated, and now they're outdated. The reality hidden behind roadside embankments and inside caravans is far greater and more serious than official statistics indicate. And without data, no policy is possible.
Therefore, the first demand placed on the authorities should be as basic as knowing what is happening. A rigorous and periodic census is necessary to understand how many people live in informal settlements, in what conditions they live, what health problems they have, and what their real needs are. Only in this way can a public response be designed that is not just a band-aid.
The solution to the housing problem is not—as we well know—to build more. The solution is to plan, regulate, and set limits on a model that has turned housing into speculation, and life, for many, into a matter of harsh survival. But while this debate remains stalled, the very least we can do is look these people in the eye and acknowledge that they exist. And that they have the right, like everyone else, to decent housing. Ignoring them doesn't make them disappear; it only makes us smaller as a society.