Bringing order to illegal tourist rentals: Marcial Rodríguez's dead end

PalmFor months, the island councilor for Tourism, Marcial Rodríguez, had found himself in a dead end. This Tuesday, he officially resigned, and will be replaced by Guillem Ginard, bringing to a close nearly two and a half years in office marked by political, social, and media pressure. The decision wasn't new: Rodríguez had expressed his intention to leave the post on several occasions, but hadn't been able to do so until the People's Party (PP) found a replacement willing to take on the challenge. But what brought the councilor down?

From day one, Rodríguez had been given the political mandate to regulate illegal tourist rentals in Mallorca, following the effective model that the Ibiza Council (Consell d'Eivissa) had successfully implemented. This desire to replicate the Ibiza strategy—considered a benchmark in the Balearic Islands—became one of the main sources of pressure on the councilor, who had to demonstrate results quickly to satisfy both the public and the institution itself. However, the complexity of the problem and bureaucratic obstacles meant that order was never fully restored and many measures were left unfinished. Rodríguez also had to take on pending cases from the previous legislature and manage the consequences of decisions made in previous terms, which further complicated his work.

Rodríguez took office in 2023 facing a growing problem of overtourism. At the same time, there was a social debate about the problem and its consequences, such as the housing crisis and pressure on the land. Rodríguez assumed the Tourism Department of the Consell de Mallorca with two clear challenges: controlling illegal tourism and outlining a new model for tourism activity. In addition to this, the councilor also had to deal with cases left unresolved in the previous legislature and address the problems stemming from decisions made during previous terms.

More inspections

To achieve his objectives, Rodríguez increased the number of inspections against illegal tourist rentals. In 2023, the island council carried out 965 operations, while during the 2024 summer campaign – which ran from June 15 to November 15 – it conducted 2,554, of which 1,765 were inspections targeting the illegal market. From 2023 to 2024, Rodríguez also increased the number of violation notices issued, from 222 in 2023 to 245 in 2024. With the intention of more severely penalizing the illegal tourist rental market, Rodríguez increased the fines. Previously, fines ranged from €40,000 to €400,000 (depending on the type of violation), and the councilor raised the minimum fine to €80,000.

At the same time that Rodríguez was increasing both the number of officers and staff in his department to combat illegal tourist accommodation, the pressure exerted by hoteliers to eradicate this activity was also increasing. Meanwhile, sources from the opposition and the Consell explained to ARA Baleares that the island councilor had "an unwritten agreement with the hoteliers" to focus on illegal tourist rentals and, in this way, avoid controlling theoverbooking of the hotels.

At the same time, criticism from the opposition regarding Rodríguez's "lack of transparency" was also increasing. In fact, the opposition within the island council has demanded several appearances during his three-year term to "demand accountability for his repeated absences and the lack of information and results regarding his management," the Socialists explained in a statement. All of this was compounded by the controversies surrounding the agritourism establishments in Juan Monje and Jaume Porsell. At that time, Rodríguez was in the crosshairs of the press and the opposition, who were watching how the councilor, who shares the same party as both owners, was acting.

With the aim of continuing to carry out his work, Rodríguez gave "a boost in the form of increased staff to the Tourism department," as he himself stated at a press conference in October 2024. Before the end of 2024, the councilor committed to fulfilling 12 new additions in the sanction instruction service and another five in the organization service (27 in total).

In January 2025, Rodríguez began the year amid a new controversy that shook the foundations of the Tourism Department. The Consell de Mallorca's Internal Information System received an anonymous complaint accusing the Island Councilor for Tourism of attempting to assault the head of the inspection service during an argument. The complaint alleged that it was not the first time the councilor had "displayed a threatening attitude" towards employees. Rodríguez denied the allegations and called the complaint "false." "I categorically deny any accusation of unethical conduct, abuse of power, or any other actions that deviate from legality and transparency in my management and that of my colleagues," Rodríguez insisted at a press conference. Despite this justification, discontent was palpable in the workplace, and some inspectors even resigned. However, the media and political spotlight once again focused on his position and his management. However, the controversy did not last beyond January, as on the 11th, the Internal Information System Commission of the Consell de Mallorca shelved the complaintRodríguez resisted the pressure and announced figures based on studies by the Consell de Mallorca to justify his management. According to a study by the municipal institution that the councilor presented in August 2025, 40% of the tourism offerings advertised on the platforms are not registeredThe analysis also determines that, out of a monthly average of 20,204 listings studied, 7,978 correspond to properties operating irregularly, totaling 42,342 tourist beds. After learning of these figures, the Balearic Islands Tourist Accommodation Association, HabturHe questioned the data released by the Consell de Mallorca. The tourist rental association also demanded the same thing as the opposition: transparency.

In a statement, the tourist rental employers' association described the data as "questionable" and criticized the "waste" of public money in the study that produced these figures. "We seriously doubt the reliability of these figures. The Consell admits that it used a private platform to detect and categorize properties, but it has not published the methodology or the margins of error," they stated. Meanwhile, the primary sector was also pressuring Rodríguez because, as ARA Baleares reported, the Consell had not yet done so until June of this year. no on-site inspection to check if tourist establishments were offering the 3% of local products mandated by law. It also did not open any disciplinary proceedings and only sent letters to verify compliance with the regulations.

Chaos in the allocation of places

In addition to the blow dealt by the tourist rental employers' association and the primary sector, in September the Consell (Island Council) carried out the first allocation process for tourist rental units – which it cancelled when the Prohens government's tourism containment decree came into effect. The allocation of units was based on the order in which applications were received. The first attempt failed, as the online system crashed and applications could not be registered. For this reason, the opposition pointed out that everything seemed rigged to allocate the units to specific individuals. The second attempt also failed for the same reason, and the third, which was scheduled to begin on December 20, has been postponed due to the repeated technical problems that occurred in previous calls for applications. Furthermore, the next call for applications still has no date because the island institution has not yet set one. Adding to this chaos in the allocation of units, in November the Tourism Department of the Consell de Mallorca acknowledged that 52 disciplinary proceedings that had been initiated have expired as they were neither resolved nor notified within one year.

All of this was the final straw that led to Rodríguez's resignation. The opposition celebrated the resignation in the extraordinary plenary session of the Council of Mallorca which was held this Tuesday. For her part, the PSIB spokesperson in the Consell de Mallorca, Catalina Cladera, hoped that the change "will improve the course of the governing team beyond just taking photos and going on trips." Meanwhile, the spokesperson for El Pi, Antoni Salas, opined that Rodríguez's term "has been turbulent and full of conflicts with staff," and therefore "has not yielded a single result." Similarly, the spokesperson for MÉS per Mallorca, Catalina Inès Perelló, considered that "no progress has been made on any concrete measures" due to Rodríguez's "mismanagement." With all this, Rodríguez brings to a close a year that began with controversy and three very unstable years in office in a difficult-to-manage department.