The law favors local rental companies

PalmaThe regulation of vehicle entry involves a dispute with a business dimension. The large multinationals in the sector, grouped under Baleval, have historically been the main beneficiaries of a market that has grown steadily in recent decades. According to data from this employers' association, a significant portion of the more than 100,000 rental cars circulating in Mallorca are theirs, a large part of them registered outside the Archipelago. Faced with the new regulation, these companies have expressed their rejection of the planned limits. On the other hand, small and medium-sized car rentals of island origin, grouped under AEVAB, have defended the need to set a ceiling to contain saturation and regulate the market.

“We must not lose sight of the fact that Autos Roig, from the Santanyí area, is one of those that, logically, has most influenced the Council, because its president is also from there and because, fundamentally, it is politically intelligent not only to reduce the cars coming from outside but also to take the opportunity to protect local businesses,” explains a source familiar with the processing of the regulation that the Council has approved for submission to Parliament.

The article of the bill states that the island council of Mallorca, “having heard the companies in the vehicle rental sector, may reasonably set the maximum number of motor vehicles that, for the entirety of this activity, may enter the island of Mallorca annually.” It may also establish “quotas for companies marketing self-drive rentals.”

The institution has decided to redistribute surplus quotas among the marketing companies, as otherwise, the contradiction could arise of establishing a limit “that is very large for a company in Mallorca and that it cannot cover, and, on the other hand, that is very small for a large company from outside,” explains the same source. Thus, Mallorcan rental companies are pleased with the regulation, while the large platforms have opposed it from the outset.