Without a pattern and without rights: the hidden drama of caravanners in Palma

PalmaOne night like any other, Ariadna tucks her daughter into bed in her home, a caravan. Every evening she has the same uncertainty: how long can she live like this; when will the Administration officially recognize her right to exist where she lives? The little girl is six years old and has been trying to register her address at home for three years. Without success.

Her story is not an exception, but a reflection of a growing reality as housing becomes more inaccessible. Buying an apartment in Palma is increasingly a luxury, and renting is an extremely complicated obstacle course (abusive contracts, overcrowded conditions...). Faced with this scenario, living in a caravan has become a way out for many people seeking autonomy and stability. But this alternative, far from being a complete solution, hits a bureaucratic wall: the Palma City Council denies registration to those who live in caravans, according to caravan dwellers, citizen groups, and political parties.

Ariadna remembers how it all began at the end of 2023, when she tried to regularize her situation. The institutional journey quickly turned into a labyrinth. "It was like a game of pinball", she explains. Social Services referred her to the City Council, and there began a journey of comings and goings without a response. "I have only found categorical negatives and bad manners," she says. She has transferred the case to the Defender of the Citizen, the Ombudsman, and the Platform of Mortgage Victims (PAH), who are demanding a solution from the City Council, still without a response.

To be able to school her daughter, Ariadna turned to her ex-partner, with whom she shares joint custody. Only this way, the girl can access essential services, such as access to public healthcare. She knows she is lucky. Before leaving the apartment where she lived, she renewed all her documentation and, as long as it remains valid, she will be able to use it. However, there are certain procedures for which she needs the registration and cannot carry them out, such as applying for aid like the minimum vital income, obtaining the resident discount, accessing certain social services or fully exercising administrative rights. Nor can she access tax deductions for caring for her daughter, as is usual and as provided for in the IRPF regulations through the minimum for dependents.The Administration is "playing the long game"

Ariadna is aware that the battle against the Administration is long and, therefore, many people give up. She says that the Administration "plays to wear down" and to "throw balls away", but states that she will not leave the attempt halfway. According to her, the City Council "uses the part of the law that interests them and ignores the one that doesn't".The regulation referred to by Ariadna is the resolution of February 17, 2020, from the Presidency of the National Institute of Statistics and the Directorate-General for Autonomous and Local Cooperation. It is here where it is established that sub-standard housing, such as caravans, or any place where the person actually resides, must be accepted as a domicile. In fact, this is the same law with which the City Council has recently justified the implementation of the protocol to deregister from the census."Crusade against registrations"

The spokesperson for the PAH, Ángela Pons, assures that the City Council is immersed in a "crusade against registrations". "We are certain that they deny registrations to caravan dwellers, because we have accompanied people to the Citizen Attention Offices (OAC) and they have been rejected," she states.

The Defender of Citizenship, Anna Moilanen, recalls that the municipal register is neither a benefit nor social assistance, but a record that certifies effective residence. In this sense, she emphasizes that the only requirement is to have habitual residence in the city. She warns that, if the City Council does not facilitate people being able to register at a fictitious address –a common practice for homeless people–, it may push these people to register fraudulently or even open the door to situations of abuse, such as charging for facilitating a registration.

Regarding caravans, he explains that they can be registered if they are parked in a fixed place or within a plot of land. Otherwise, he reiterates that the solution is simple: register the people at a fictitious address, such as that of a municipal building.

Artificial situations

In line with Moilanen, lawyer Gloria Olmos, also a member of the PAH, says that, to register, the regulations require "to prove the domicile within the municipal term" and that sub-standard housing, such as a tent, a caravan, a shack, or even a cave, is also understood as domicile. She explains that the City Council does not give "any formal resolution" to caravan dwellers and obliges those who request registration to do so "through an NGO," which generates artificial situations. Olmos explains that the problem lies in the fact that this relationship with the NGO and the caravan dweller "does not really exist," as they are not real users, because they are not people in a situation of special vulnerability or exclusion. She explains that the caravan dweller has "a one-off contact with the entity to obtain registration and then they stop having it."In this context, when the City Council, following the protocol activated in July 2025, requests the list of people who have not had contact with the NGO in recent months to carry out the deregistration, the measure reaches all these users, as they are not regular users because they do not have the need for it, points out the lawyer. "Not only are they not registered, but deregistration is also carried out systematically," assures Olmos.

"Mass deregistration by oficio"

Since the beginning of the term, the City Council governed by the PP has promoted a policy of "massive de-registrations ex officio", as criticized by the PSOE of Palma and corroborated by the Ombudsman. According to registry data, these cancellations have affected 14,893 people between 2024 and the first two months of 2026. The figure represents an increase of 66% compared to the years 2021 and 2022. In 2024, cancellations almost tripled compared to 2023 and almost doubled compared to 2022. Regarding 2026, the number of de-registrations in just two months is already close to half of all cancellations recorded during 2023.

The controversy has intensified due to it being an issue that affects basic rights and, especially, after the initial explanations of the councilor for Social Services, Lourdes Roca, were questioned. Initially, she attributed the origin of the lists of vulnerable people to the Red Cross, but, subsequently, the City Council itself admitted that the request had come from municipal services, contradicting Roca's first version. "On September 18, 2025, the Red Cross sent, at the request of the municipal Social Services technicians, a review of the list of people in a situation of vulnerability registered at a fictitious address," Cort explained in a press release.

"In Palma, people live in dwellings"

This conflict adds to a recent precedent: the City Council wanted to fine people living in motorhomes with fines of up to 1,500 euros. The regulation, which was initially approved, was withdrawn after the indignation of the motorhome community and social and political pressure. The mayor, Jaime Martínez, then summarized his position with a controversial phrase: "In Palma, people live in houses, not in motorhomes".

Regarding the massive departures from the registry, Moilanen assures that he is awaiting clarification on what is happening. He has requested explanations and reports to be able to analyze them and draw conclusions, since, according to him, there are aspects that "do not add up", especially in a context where the population continues to grow.

Furthermore, he insists that the register cannot be conditioned or subjected to assessments on social exclusion or residency, because this would generate legal uncertainty and unequal treatment. "I would like to think that it is a technical issue to facilitate the work of the population department," he points out.

Moilanen also warns that, if a municipality introduces conditions for accessing the register, it could incur a violation of the Spanish Constitution. Specifically, he recalls that Article 10.3 establishes that the public administration must objectively serve the general interests and act with full submission to the law and to the right.

"He thinks he is the king of Palma"

The also camper Javier González explains that he started the procedures to register two years ago. He shows himself visibly annoyed: "What happens is that Jaime Martínez thinks he is the king of Palma and that he is not governed by Spanish law, but he is failing an obligation." "He interprets the law to his liking and, in the meantime, I cannot access services, I cannot access anything," he laments. According to his complaint, the mayor of Palma "does not want people with few resources, only millionaires".

In the case of Lorenzo (fictitious name), the procedure is in full legal process. He requested registration and, for three months –the established deadline–, he received no response from the City Council. The answerarrived one day after the deadline had passed. With the support of the PAH, he has appealed against the decision, alleging positive administrative silence, which establishes that the lack of response within the deadline is equivalent to the approval of the request.

"Fraudulent registrations"

Vox Palma justifies and supports the City Council's decision to request lists to carry out de-registrations. Their position in the fight against "fraudulent registrations" is forceful, according to the party's leader in Palma, Fulgencio Coll. The party had already promoted initiatives to "avoid fraudulent registrations" in April 2025 and May 2024. "We support councilwoman Lourdes Roca and a meticulous control of registrations," stated Coll.

In contrast, the spokesperson for MÉS per Palma, Neus Truyol, recalls that the City Council has the legal obligation to register and that failing to do so means breaching regulations. "To this must be added the unilateral de-registration promoted by councilwoman Lourdes Roca, for which a third sector entity was initially responsible," she points out. For the eco-sovereigntist, the PP "has fully assumed Vox's aphobic message and attack on the most vulnerable groups."

"Criminalization of poverty"

The spokesperson for Podem Palma, Lucía Muñoz, maintains that there is a "political order not to register people living in caravans". Muñoz is very critical of Vox, because she considers that the formation treats registration "as if it were a trick", when, in reality, it is the gateway to basic rights. She also reproaches the PP for having assumed Vox's "discourse of criminalizing poverty" and denounces that "there is a competition between the PP and Vox to see who is more racist".

The socialist spokesperson, councilor Daniel Oliveira, has criticized that the mayor and his government team "carry out mass deregistration ex officio, up to 15,000 in two years". "Furthermore, and for the first time, they have requested lists of people in a situation of social emergency to deregister them, a never-before-seen fact," he pointed out. All this coincides with "the numerous complaints from people living in caravans who have great difficulties accessing the registry," he remarked. According to Oliveira's complaint, "the City Council says they are vulnerable people, but this is not the case for everyone: there are working people who have discovered they were not registered when they went to the doctor and were told they did not have a health card".