40 years of El Bungalow in Palma: the illegal restaurant on the rocks with a pending demolition order

PalmAt the end of July 2022, the State Directorate General for Coastal Affairs rejected the request of the owners of the El Bungalow restaurant, located on the front line of Ciutat Jardí beach in Palma, seeking a concession and legalizing its location, as the establishment is located on public land without a permit. The highest coastal authority gave the owners six months to demolish the building, which occupies more than 400 square meters on the rocks of Ciutat Jardí without authorization.

Three years after that order, nothing has happened. The Directorate General for Coastal Affairs—which reports to the Ministry of Ecological Transition—had made it clear in its letter that, after the six months had elapsed (starting in early 2023), "coercive fines" would be imposed on the owners if the building was not demolished. However, according to the sources consulted, there is no record of any specific action having been taken and the restaurant has continued to operate normally in the summers of 2023, 2024 and 2025.

The documentation sent to the property also specified that the "concrete" that occupies the rocks of Ciutat Jardí. In fact, El Bungalow has become in recent years a paradigmatic case of the tension between the defense of local heritage and the strict application of the Coastal Law, although its economic activity dates back to 1983.

Legally, without this title the use is irregular and forces the Administration to proceed with its removal. The case is not unique, since hundreds of constructions fill the coastline without authorization and the State's action "is very slow", as criticized on different occasions by the environmental organization GOB, who in 2022 took advantage of the umpteenth denial of Costs to demand "order and illegality."

According to a calculation made by ARA Baleares based on documentation collected by various experts, due to the expiration of many concessions—the 1988 Coastal Law establishes a maximum of 30 years—and the lack of renewals conditioned by environmental protection, up to 10,000 could have accumulated. These data highlight the scale of illegal occupation of the coast.

Pressure in favor

Not everyone believes that El Bungalow, a popular restaurant with beautiful views of the Palma coastline, should be demolished. Social pressure materialized in a mobilization that brought together residents, workers, and people primarily linked to the People's Party (PP), currently leading the government and which has promised on several occasions to take advantage of its partial coastal jurisdiction to try to save these types of buildings, always with arguments linked to the construction's alleged heritage or historical interest.

The demonstration in front of the establishment It was made on November 6, 2022Hundreds of people demanded the protection of El Bungalow and demanded a solution that reconciles legality and heritage preservation. Palma City Council responded to the public pressure and agreed in plenary session to initiate the process of cataloging and protecting El Bungalow as a building of historic interest, in addition to requesting the Coastal Department to temporarily halt any further work while technical reports and heritage studies are carried out.

However, judicial channels and higher legal regulations impose limitations. Recently, a Supreme Court ruling has strengthened the State's ability to recover buildings in the public domain and has restricted the possibilities of automatic legalization of chibius and coastal establishments when neither a state registry nor a permit exists. This legal framework makes it difficult for a municipal cataloging alone to stop an enforcement order from the Coastal Department.

There is an administrative order that dictates an irreversible demolition, and a deadline that has expired. In addition, the coastal law that was supposed to help with these situations has not yet entered Parliament. According to the sources consulted, the Government is aware that those legalizations that have been most demanded by different citizens, businessmen and lobbies These issues cannot be resolved through regional legislation, since the State reserves the right to decide. In this regard, it has already issued a clear resolution: The Bungalow cannot continue.