If you're considering buying a property in Mallorca to operate as a holiday rental, the first thing to understand is that the license — technically, the Estancia Turística en Vivienda (ETV) — can no longer be applied for freely. Since February 2022 there has been a moratorium capping the total number of tourist places on the island, and since 2025 that moratorium has been managed through a new mechanism: the temporary place pools run by the Consorci Borsa d'Allotjaments Turístics (CBAT), which redistribute, through periodic calls, the places that become free when other properties give theirs up.
This changes the whole way you need to plan this kind of investment: it's no longer a procedure you start whenever you, as the buyer, decide to — it's a process bound by deadlines, quotas and, in the most recent call, a public lottery. Let's go through what an ETV actually is, why this cap exists, how the process works step by step today, and what alternatives an investor has if they don't secure a place.
What is an ETV, and who needs one?
A stay counts as a tourist stay when you rent out the entire property for periods of less than a month, in exchange for payment, marketed through tourism channels, and available for immediate use. If you can't prove a purpose other than tourism, the Balearic authorities will assume it is one — which is why a seasonal rental doesn't work as a disguised substitute for a holiday rental.
Within ETVs there are three categories, each with different requirements and license terms:
| Property type | License term | Marketing |
|---|---|---|
| Detached single-family home (not under horizontal property) | Indefinite | Year-round |
| Multi-family home (townhouses, buildings under horizontal property) | Renewable every 5 years | Year-round |
| Main residence (owner registered as resident) | Renewable every 5 years | Maximum 2 months a year |
A single owner cannot operate more than three tourist properties in Mallorca, and the property must be at least five years old as a private residence.
Why there's a moratorium: the cap on tourist places
Law 3/2022, of 15 June (which developed Decree-Law 3/2022), suspended the acquisition of new tourist places in Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera as of 11 February 2022. The idea was to freeze the total number of places while each island council reviewed its tourism carrying capacity.
That review kept getting delayed, and in April 2025 Decree-Law 4/2025, of 11 April, against illegal supply and for the quality of tourism in the Balearic Islands, came into force. This law did two things that matter for anyone trying to get an ETV today:
- It removed the automatic elimination of places that had been scheduled for 2026 if island councils failed to complete their review in time.
- It created, for as long as the moratorium lasts, temporary place pools managed island by island: in Mallorca, two pools run by the CBAT, one for tourist stays in homes and another for accommodation establishments.
Key point. Places in the temporary pool don't add to the island's overall cap. They come exclusively from cancellations: properties that stopped operating as an ETV and returned their places to the system. No new places are created — the existing ones are simply redistributed.
How the CBAT's temporary pool works in practice
The CBAT Governing Board agreement that regulates this pool (BOIB no. 74, of 12 June 2025) originally set out three calls a year, with application windows from 16 to 30 September, 16 to 30 January and 16 to 30 May each year. In practice, the calendar has kept shifting: the 2026 call opened on 23 March and closed on 8 April, offering 1,069 places, and the May 2026 call ended up being suspended (BOIB no. 52, of 23 April 2026). It's best to treat this as what it is: a live calendar that the Governing Board can change before or after any given call.
The most significant change in 2026 is the allocation system. Until now, applications were resolved strictly in the order they were filed. In the March 2026 call, the Consell de Mallorca introduced a public lottery before a notary (supervised by the Consell's Secretary General and broadcast publicly), assigning each application a queue number and allocating places by lottery instead of by filing speed. A six-month waiting list was also created, to keep allocating places freed up by cancellations during that period.
The entire procedure — application, paperwork and resolution — is handled exclusively online through the CBAT's electronic office.
The process, step by step
- Check that the property is in an eligible zone. Each island has its own zoning plan. You need a municipal certificate confirming the property is in a zone eligible for tourist marketing and that the municipality hasn't exceeded its quota.
- Verify the property's requirements: a valid habitability certificate (which sets the maximum number of places), a minimum age of five years as a private residence, no serious urban-planning penalties, an energy performance certificate and, where applicable, explicit authorisation from the community of owners.
- Apply for places in the CBAT's open call. You can only submit an application within the window set by each call; outside those dates, applications aren't accepted. If the property needs renovation work to meet the requirements, you can request a place reservation, with a three-year deadline to complete the acquisition.
- Wait for the call to be resolved (by filing order or by lottery, depending on what that specific call sets out) and, if you're allocated a place, pay the corresponding amount to obtain the acquisition certificate.
- File the Declaración Responsable de Inicio de Actividad Turística (DRIAT) — the responsible declaration of the start of tourist activity — within three months of acquiring the place. If it isn't filed in time, the place automatically returns to the pool.
- Start operating. Once the DRIAT has been filed, the property is registered ex officio in the Island Register of Tourism Businesses, Activities and Establishments.
Paperwork filed together with the DRIAT
- Proof of identity (DNI, passport or NIE) and, where applicable, proof of representation
- Certificate of acquisition of tourist places issued by the CBAT
- Municipal certificate confirming eligible zoning and that the quota hasn't been exceeded
- Certificate of registration (empadronamiento) for the owner, if it's a main residence
- Documentation proving the community of owners has authorised tourist marketing, where applicable
- Modernisation and quality plan template (Annex 6 of Decree 20/2015)
- Proof of payment of the corresponding fees
Obligations once the license has been granted
- Public liability insurance covering damage during the stay, with minimum cover of €300,000 and a maximum deposit of €600 per claim
- A 24-hour contact phone number for guests and the community of owners
- A visible identification plaque on the property
- A consumption-monitoring system and the minimum required amenities
- The tourism registration number visible in all advertising
- Complaint forms available, and guest registration
- Declaring the income from the activity to the tax authorities
How much does a tourist place cost
The CBAT sets the acquisition price for a place, and it has broadly stayed at the same reference amounts of recent years:
| Property type | Indicative price per place |
|---|---|
| Single-family home (indefinite license) | €3,500 |
| Multi-family home (license renewable every 5 years) | €875 |
| Main residence (maximum 2 months/year) | €291.67 |
These figures are the reference amounts set out in the CBAT Governing Board's agreement of December 2024 (BOIB no. 5, of 9 January 2025), which still serves as the basis for pricing in later calls. The Governing Board can change the price and criteria for each call, so it's worth confirming them on the CBAT's electronic office before applying, rather than relying on a figure from several years back.
What happens if you operate without a license
Advertising or marketing a property as tourist accommodation without a valid ETV is a serious offence. Fines have traditionally ranged between €20,000 and €40,000, and Decree-Law 4/2025 has toughened the penalty regime against illegal supply, raising the maximum amount for the most serious offences. It isn't a minor risk: on top of the fine, the authorities can order the activity to stop immediately.
Where we stand. At Mallorca PSI, we are firmly against operating a holiday rental without a valid ETV license. We don't advise on or support any deal with that intention, and for any client considering buying a property to operate it as a holiday rental, we require the property's legal situation to be verified before signing. No investment return is worth the risk of a fine, a forced shutdown of the activity, and the reputational damage of operating outside the rules.
Frequently asked questions
Can I buy a property that already has an ETV in place, instead of applying for one from scratch?
Yes, and these days it's usually the faster, less uncertain route. Buying a property with places already acquired and registered means you don't depend on a call being open, on winning the lottery, or on a waiting list. The license is tied to the property, but it isn't transferred automatically to the new owner — you need to verify, before buying, that the registration is current and in good standing, and that the property still meets the requirements to keep it.
What happens if I don't win a place in a call's lottery?
You go onto that call's waiting list, valid for six months, during which you can be allocated places that come back into the pool through cancellations. If you don't get a place within that period, you can apply again in the next call that opens.
Can I rent out my property short-term while I'm applying for the ETV?
Not as a way of avoiding it. If you can't demonstrate that the rental serves a purpose other than tourism, the authorities treat it as an undeclared tourist stay, with the same risk of penalty as operating without a license.
How long does the whole process take?
It mostly depends on whether you secure a place in the first call you apply to. Once you've acquired the place, filing the DRIAT itself is fairly quick (you have up to three months to file it), but getting the place in the first place can take several months if you're relying on a call, a lottery, or a waiting list.
How we handle this at Mallorca PSI
Before we propose a property for tourist rental use, we check its actual standing with the CBAT: whether it already has a valid ETV, whether it's in good standing, and whether it fits what you're looking for. If your goal is to secure a new place, we'll walk you honestly through the real timelines and uncertainty of the process, without promising anything the regulations don't allow.
Want us to check whether a specific property has a valid ETV, or could qualify for a place?
Contact usSources: CBAT — March 2026 call for the temporary place pool, BOE — Decree-Law 4/2025, of 11 April, Derecho Local — CBAT Governing Board agreement on price and procedure, idealista/news and AvaiBook. Content current as of July 2026; before applying for a place, always confirm the dates, prices and criteria of the ongoing call on the CBAT's electronic office.
