The Spanish government has decided to take action to eliminate the possibility, however incredible it may seem, that new constructions in flood-prone areas can still be authorized today. Following the tragedy in the Valencian Community, autonomous communities like the Balearic Islands and local councils have not managed to impose strict criteria prohibiting new authorizations in risk zones, which is why the state executive is preparing a new royal decree that tightens the rules for building in flood-exposed areas. Specifically, it sets a clearer limit and prohibits new residential uses in the most dangerous areas, such as the known preferential flow zones. The regulatory project, still in the public information phase, establishes that in preferential flow zones, new homes cannot be authorized, not even on already urbanized land. It therefore reinforces the principle that the risk of flooding must condition land use planning.

Building permits issued in the Balearic Islands increased by 27.9% in 2025 compared to 2024, a growth driven, in part, by the extraordinary legalizations of buildings on rural land approved by the Balearic Government, as the Official College of Architects of the Balearic Islands pointed out this Tuesday. In this regard, during the presentation of the Housing Observatory held this Tuesday at a press conference, experts indicated that without the effect of the extraordinary legalizations, the increase would have been 5.7%, meaning there would have been 22.2% fewer projects. They explained that this increase is linked to the extraordinary regularization processes for buildings on rural land provided for in Decree Law 3/2024 and Law 7/2024, concerning housing and administrative simplification, respectively.

The Mallorca Territorial Defense Agency has demolished several buildings, installations, and paving erected on a rural property and intended as an animal shelter, after confirming that they lacked any municipal building permits. According to the Agency, these structures occupied a significant portion of the land and had not obtained any authorization for their construction. Following the appropriate procedures, the structures were demolished, and the land has been restored to its previous natural state. According to current urban planning regulations, any building or installation intended to house animals requires prior municipal authorization. The Agency reminds the public that, although some owners attempt to justify these types of constructions as "houses" or for other uses, these spaces are also subject to licensing, especially when located on rural land.

The urban planning deregulation brought about by the Administrative Simplification Law—approved by Parliament last December with the votes of the People's Party (PP) and Vox—will allow the construction of up to 1,500 villas in areas considered at risk of fire in Mallorca. These constructions could not be carried out until now, because a decree-law of the Pact expressly prohibited the placement of houses in forests. But the Simplification Decree-Law of May 2024 and the December law have opened the door to building villas even in areas at risk of fire.