The Pros and Cons of Living in Mallorca

Last Updated on June 8 , 2024 by acrossthewaterwithchelsita

In January 2016, we packed our lives into two suitcases and moved to Barcelona. 7 years, 15 jobs, one wedding anniversary, and two cats later, we were ready for our next adventure. Moving to Mallorca was a huge decision. We were comfortable in Barcelona. We had built up a tight-knit friendship group. We loved the city. Were we making a big mistake leaving it all behind to move to a small island where we didn’t know a soul?

Now that we’ve been living in Mallorca for over a year, I can share my honest opinion of what it’s like living here — the pros and the cons. So read on find out what makes the island so special, as well as the biggest drawbacks of living in Mallorca. Plus find out my biggest pet peeves… (ensaïmadas I’m looking at you!).

The pros of living in Mallorca

Let’s start with the good stuff. [Spoiler alert: there’s a lot of it!]

Natural beauty and climate

Boasting over 200 beautiful beaches and calas — including Playa de Muro (ranked the best beach in the world in 2023) — Mallorca’s a beach lover’s dream. In fact, Mallorca’s beautiful beaches were one of the main reasons we moved to the island. (Admittedly, there are some lovely beaches just a short train ride from Barcelona, but they’re nothing compared to Mallorca’s.)

Plus, with over 400 species of fish as well as hundreds of  invertebrates, crustaceans, birds and mammals, Mallorca’s a true paradise for snorkellers and divers. Mallorca is also one of the best places in the Mediterranean to see dolphins in their natural habitat! 🐬

And if you’re not a beach lover, Mallorca has much more to offer than its gorgeous coastline. Home to the Serra de Tramuntana, an impressive mountain range considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site, you’ll never run out of hiking and climbing opportunities. A particularly good time to dust off your walking boots is late January to the end of February when the island’s 7 million almond trees are in full-bloom!

And with over 300 days of sunshine and an annual average temperature of around 22 degrees celsius, you can take full advantage of Mallorca’s natural beauty in all seasons.

Travel Discount

While Mallorca doesn’t have the best public transportation system in the world, (more on that later), it’s absolutely free for Mallorca residents! 🚌

Since 2023 all public buses, metros, and trains have been free to help residents fight inflation and reduce congestion on the island’s roads. After a lot of back and forth, it’s finally been decided that all public transport, including Palma’s buses will remain free of charge in 2024. Hooray! To benefit, all you need is your tarjeta ciudadana for the Palma buses and a TIB card for the rest of the public transport.

And it gets better. Check this out…

Residents in the Balearic (and Canary islands) are eligible for a 75% discount on all air and sea travel! These very generous travel subsidies from the Spanish government can result in some seriously low airfares — making it very feasible to commute to work on the mainland or another island, not to mention cheap to explore the rest of Spain. 🏝️🛫

How to get your resident’s discount

1. To get your discount you’ll need to first register yourself as a resident with the local council (empadronamiento). 
2. Once registered, you can obtain your certificado de residencia. There are three ways you can do this:

• Free online using your tarjeta de ciudadana
• Free online using a digital certificate
• At your local council for a small fee

Seasonality

While summer heralds the influx of mass tourism (around 3 million visitors in August 2023 alone), winter paints a serene contrast. The descent from peak tourism to a mere trickle of visitors turns vibrant summer resorts into tranquil ghost towns. 

Despite the economic challenges posed by Mallorca’s dependence on tourism — 75% of the island’s total economic output — the quiet winter months (November – March) are the perfect time to appreciate the island’s natural beauty in a more contemplative and intimate setting.

Whether you’re into hiking, wild tardeos, or simply relaxing at home without a constant stream of visitors — yes, you will feel like your home’s a hotel at times — Mallorcan winters provide a refreshing contrast to the intense summer period.

Things to do

Music festivals, water fights, underground caves, grape-throwing competitions… for a small island, Mallorca packs a mighty punch. Sure, it can’t compete with the cornucopia of events in big cities like Madrid and Barcelona, but there’s a lot going on for an island with fewer than 1 million inhabitants. What’s more, a lot of the local celebrations and events are absolutely free of charge!

Check out this Mallorca events calendar to get inspired! 🗓️

Beach sunsets and sunrises

Something that’s always a bit of a bummer in Barcelona is that because it’s on the East coast, you don’t get beach sunsets. In contrast, Mallorca’s Western coast has some of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen – every day a new show.

And since it’s a smallish island (3,640 km²), you’re never more than about an hour from any given point on the island. So whether it’s gorgeous sunsets or sunrises you crave, you can have it all! 🌅

Relaxed island vibes

Now, before any arrows are aimed my way, let me stress that what I’m about to share is purely a subjective observation. While Barcelona’s home to many great people (friends, I miss you!) Mallorcans seem generally friendlier and more relaxed. (I mean, why wouldn’t they be when they live on a paradise island?!).

Whether it’ neighbours, council workers, postal staff, or bartenders, Mallorcans generally seem warmer and more laid-back compared to Barcelonians.

Perhaps the island’s smaller size plays a role, with just over 945,000 inhabitants compared to Barcelona’s almost 6 million. Or maybe it’s the influence of the sea air and the crystal-clear waters that surround Mallorca. Whatever the magic ingredient, Mallorca shines when it comes to relaxed and friendly vibes. After all, it’s undeniably easier to find joy on a beautiful island. 🍹

You get to live in a holiday destination!

This last pro is one of the biggest benefits of living in Mallorca, and something I’m enormously grateful for: The millions of tourists who come to the island each year have to save up and take time off work to visit the island for just a few weeks in the year. But when you live here you get to enjoy the island year round!

It’s like having a VIP pass to a luxury holiday resort. Sure, unless you’re retired, you probably have to work, but once your working day’s done, the island’s your playground! Bliss!

To find out more about what it’s like living in a holiday destination, check out What’s it Like Living in a Beach Resort?

The cons of living in Mallorca

And now the part you’ve all been waiting for: the cons. Sadly, there are disadvantages of living on a Mediterranean island, although none of them have been deal-breakers for me.

Public transport

Because of its small size, people are always surprised to find out Mallorca has a metro service. The trouble is, it doesn’t go anywhere you’d actually want to go.

Okay, I’m exaggerating a little, but there are only two metro lines that leave from Palma — one terminating at the UIB university and the other at the inland town of Marratxí (stopping at various industrial estates on the way). This makes the metro pretty much useless for visitors or anyone living outside of Palma.

Mallorca also has three train lines, but they all depart from Palma and go to three inland towns far from the tourist trail. So if you want to explore all the beautiful calas and beaches of Mallorca, the trains will be of no use.

The buses, … oh the buses!

Most of the public transport system here relies on buses, but unless you live in the city, your experience of public transport will likely be frustrating and time-consuming. Case in point: It takes over an hour to travel from Can Pastilla to Palma Nova (about 26km) with two buses. The same journey take 20 minutes by car. To add insult to injury, fares are charged per bus, meaning you pay more for the added inconvenience. 

This turns travelling by public transport between coastal towns into a real odyssey. Understandably, most locals have a car and tourists overwhelmingly opt for rental cars or taxis. 

As someone without a driver’s licence and no desire (or funds) to buy a gas-guzzling car, the lack of efficient public transport can be very limiting.

The saving grace is that Mallorca’s public transport is currently free for residents. But I still miss Barcelona’s fast and efficient metro with 24/7 service on Saturdays. Sniff! 🥹

Limited employment opportunities

Accounting for approximately 45% of Mallorca’s GDP, Tourism is by far the island’s largest industry creating around 35% of jobs. As a result, you’ll find a lot of work on the island is in Hospitality, Yachting, and other jobs related directly or indirectly to tourism. 

Unfortunately, tourism is highly seasonal leaving thousands unemployed in the winter months once their temporary contracts come to an end.

What’s more, many of these jobs are poorly paid. In fact, the average salary in the Balearic islands (1,721 Euros per month) is below the national average (1,822 Euros per month), despite the region having some of the highest house prices in all of Spain — more on that in a moment.

So unless you can work remotely or freelance, you may find your employment options are limited on the island.

Affordability

Mallorca’s often touted as an affordable location, but unless you’re a wealthy expat, I don’t think that’s true. As we just saw, wages on the island are lower than the national average, but prices are not.

Take housing — the average square metre price of residential real estate in the Balearic Islands was higher than in any other region in Spain in October 2023. And while the cost of living has increased, purchasing power has not.

Of course, affordability is relative, so if you’re coming to Mallorca from countries like Switzerland, the Nordics, or the UK, the cost of living in Mallorca is most likely lower, but compared to the rest of Spain, Mallorca is more expensive on almost all fronts. 🫰🏽

Delays in delivery

It rarely happens that a package can’t be delivered at all, but it’s not uncommon to find deliveries take a few days longer than to the mainland . A minor inconvenience, I know, but I wanted to dish the dirt on all the cons!

Mallorcan food

This is perhaps the most controversial part of this entire post. Ready?

Don’t hate me for this but…

I’m not a fan of traditional Mallorquin food.

There I said it.

I know, how can I talk? I’m from the UK — not a country known for its lip-smacking cuisine. And I’m sure if you eat meat and fish you’ll really enjoy Mallorcan food. But as a spice-loving vegetarian, it doesn’t hit the spot.

Tumbet’s fine, Coca Mallorquina’s fine, Trampó’s fine, Coca de patata – meh, but nothing that would keep you coming back for more.

Same with the wine. With a few wonderful exceptions, most Mallorcan wine is mediocre compared to what you can get from the mainland.

And don’t get me started on ensaïmadas!

Despite having “lard” (saïm) in the name, I didn’t know they weren’t vegetarian for the longest time, so I’ve tried these underwhelming, overhyped pastries on several occasions and can report that they taste like soft bread with a bit of sugar on them.

And they’re made with lard!

Eww! I don’t get it.

But judging from the amount sold in Palma airport (and then infuriatingly stuffed five-boxes high in the overhead luggage compartment), I’m guessing lots of people enjoy them. So don’t let me put you off.

Was moving to Mallorca a good decision?

The moment of truth. Was leaving Barcelona for Mallorca a huge mistake?

Sure, there are some cons and I have a few pet peeves like overhyped ensaïmadas and the wooden train to Sóller. Barcelona definitely has better public transport and arguably more things to do, but ultimately, moving to Mallorca has been a fantastic decision for me.

I think it all comes down to your priorities. Despite the cons, there are some aspects of living in Mallorca — like the island’s natural beauty and climate — which are priceless, especially if you’re a fellow beach lover.

So is Mallorca perfect? No.

Would I have still moved here knowing what I know now? Yes. A thousand times yes.

This is my personal opinion of island life but everyone will have a different experience. If you live or have lived in Mallorca, I’d love to hear about your experience in the comment section below.