Government refuses to clear Palma's 20-tent housing protest

Today's essentials (4 key points)

• The Balearic Govern led by Marga Prohens has decided not to declare any stressed rental-market zones in the islands, which keeps the national rent-control tool off the table for local tenants.
• Air traffic controllers say the outdated control tower at Menorca airport threatens its operations, after radar failures caused delays this summer.
• Open-Meteo forecasts scattered showers across the Balearic Islands on Thursday 1 October 2026, with temperatures between 24 and 28°C and wind up to 16 km/h.
• The weekly Mallorca events listing for 2 to 8 October includes fairs in Alaró, Alcúdia, Esporles and Llucmajor, a Moors and Christians event in Valldemossa and a surf film festival in Peguera.

Today's essentials

Government refuses to clear Palma's 20-tent housing protest. The Spanish Government's Delegation in the Balearic Islands (Delegación del Gobierno) will not remove the housing protest camp on Palma's Plaza de España, even though Palma City Council (known locally as Cort) has asked it to, Última Hora reported on Thursday 1 October 2026.

According to Última Hora, the Delegación says the protest is protected by the right of assembly. It describes it as temporary and says it disrupts neither public order nor essential services. The Policía Nacional is keeping watch over the camp for possible health risks, but no police operation is planned.

The camp went up overnight from Monday 28 to Tuesday 29 September 2026, after a rally at Plaça de Cort held in support of the protest camp at Puerta del Sol in Madrid. Reports on its size differ from day to day. Canal4Diario counted around twenty people sleeping in eight tents on the first night, while coverage in Última Hora and fibwidiario put the number at about thirty people, with the tents rising from around ten to about twenty, by the second day. The protesters, as fibwidiario reports, consider the government's latest housing measures insufficient.

The City Council is pushing back hard. Canal4Diario reports that Cort wants the Delegación to act "immediately", arguing that a deadline the organisers gave to the state administration has now passed. Mayor Jaime Martínez has demanded that the Delegación "take responsibility". The council also points out that Plaza de España is one of Palma's busiest hubs, with around 50,000 people passing through every day, and says the tents prevent municipal teams from cleaning and maintaining the square as usual. The date of that deadline appears in none of the sources consulted, and so far only the council says it has expired.

The protest is part of a nationwide movement that began with the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, aged 87, from the home she had lived in for 71 years. According to Pressdigital, her case led to the Puerta del Sol camp in Madrid (around 500 people and roughly a hundred tents, according to the government delegation there) and to two royal decrees on housing nicknamed the "decreto Maricarmen". Forbes España reports that the Palma organisers plan to stay "with or without permission" for at least 20 more days, even if those decrees are adopted.

What this means for you: if you go through Plaza de España (the square by Palma's train and bus station), expect to see the tents there for some time yet, because the State has ruled out any eviction for now. Keep an eye on the dispute between Cort and the Delegación over the coming days. The organisers' own 20-day horizon, as reported by Forbes España, runs to around mid-October 2026.

What you need to know

• Towns affected : Palma (Mallorca), Plaza de España
• Roads closed or diverted : non communique a cette heure
• Official instructions : No eviction is planned: the Delegación del Gobierno says the gathering is protected by the right of assembly, and the Policía Nacional is monitoring the camp for possible health risks without intervening (Última Hora, 1 October 2026).
• Air quality : non communique a cette heure
• Official numbers & channels : non communique a cette heure
• Last updated : Thursday 1 October 2026 (statements from the Delegación del Gobierno and Palma City Council)

Situation ongoing: this article will be updated.

Weather today

Scattered showers, 24 to 28°C. Open-Meteo forecasts scattered showers across the Balearic Islands on Thursday 1 October 2026, with highs of 28°C, lows of 24°C and wind up to 16 km/h, so it is worth carrying a light umbrella.

At sea, Meteoalarm shows a green coastal level, meaning no warning, for every Balearic coastal zone, from Ibiza and Formentera to Menorca and all of Mallorca's coastline.

Transport & traffic

• Menorca's control tower worries controllers. Speaking to Menorca (Es Diari), air traffic controllers warn that the control tower at Menorca airport is putting the airport's ability to operate at risk. Radar failures have already caused delays this summer, and the controllers describe the tower's equipment as the "most obsolete" in Spain. They are calling on island institutions and the employers' association to form a united front and press AENA, the state airport operator, in Madrid. For anyone flying in or out of Mahón, this means the delays seen in summer could happen again until the equipment is upgraded.
• Es Born in Ciutadella goes car-free again. Only days after cars were allowed back, Plaza des Born in Ciutadella will close to traffic again for several events in October, the same Menorca newspaper adds. If you drive through the centre of Ciutadella, plan another route for the rest of the month. The square will be cleared each time it hosts an event, so watch for local signs before relying on it as a through road.

What's changing for you

• No rent-control zones for the Balearics. In remarks covered by the Periódico de Ibiza y Formentera on Wednesday 30 September 2026, Balearic President Marga Prohens defended the Govern's decision not to declare any stressed rental-market zones (zonas tensionadas) in the islands. She also criticised the central government's two new royal decree-laws on housing, saying that "rent today is more expensive than last week". In practice, if you rent in Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza or Formentera, the rent caps tied to a stressed-zone declaration will not apply here for now. Before signing or renewing a lease, check the price carefully and keep following how the national decrees are applied in the islands.

Local news to know

• Yasmina Castro joins 3 Días Trail Ibiza. Long-distance runner Yasmina Castro, from Gran Canaria, will race the Ultra at 3 Días Trail Ibiza 2026 for the first time, with an ITRA ranking of 684 points; the Ibiza daily has the details.
• Green coastal level around the islands. Meteoalarm shows a green coastal level, meaning no warning, for every Balearic coastal zone, from Ibiza and Formentera to Menorca and all of Mallorca's coastline.
• Eva Longoria film casts a Mallorca couple. The casting agency for The Last Sunrise, the Eva Longoria film, is looking for a couple who live on Mallorca and are aged between 25 and 55 to appear in one scene, the Majorca Daily Bulletin reports.

Tonight and tomorrow, the Balearic Islands

• Fairs, wine and surf films from Friday. From Friday 2 October 2026, the Majorca Daily Bulletin's weekly listing includes popular fairs in Alaró, Alcúdia, Esporles and Llucmajor, plus Valldemossa's own Moors and Christians event. The same week also has a wine event in Palma, a sausage celebration in Sant Joan, a literary event in Magaluf and a surf film festival in Peguera. Check each organiser's times before you set off.

See the full agenda, tonight and tomorrow