You might ask how exclusive, calm and private can Mallorca be when the Mediterranean lifestyle of the island is surely so much about open-air, open-plan living among large numbers of family and friends. Although it is true that Mallorcans choose to entertain in a large, family-orientated style throughout the year, Mallorcan people maintain clear divisions between home and village/town. So much of the daily socializing takes place in the square, in cafés and bars, not within the home, whose privacy is usually guarded, during the busy week at least. But, after all, many Mallorcans themselves live in the beautiful secluded mountainous Tramuntana region, or on a cliff overlooking the sea.

Most of Mallorca’s coastline is protected

But on the coast itself, which concerns so much of the luxury property market, 89% of the coastline of Mallorca has a protected rustic status. If you build here, you must have a plot of at least 15,000 square metres, so neighbours, if any, are unlikely to be too close. In fact, the Ley de Costas of 1988, the Spanish legislation which protects the Mallorcan coast, has recently been revised to enhance the status of existing property and ensure further that whatever you build is protected to a higher degree than before.

For example, there is to be far greater transparency with respect to Land Registry records concerning coastal areas. Publication of borders on the Ministry of Agriculture website will end much uncertainty and offer greater security to buyers, particularly those of front-line properties. The revised law, which came into effect on 28th July of this year, will increase concessions on use of property from 30 to 75 years and widen opportunities (subject to local permission) for renovation of existing property. What if, in such conservation areas, you find that you need access to public land in order to repair, modify or generally improve your luxury property ? The revised statute now makes this much easier.

It also distinguishes between the larger “urban” beaches of coastal resorts and the more exclusive natural beaches which are to be accorded greater protection and whose occupancy is to be more strictly limited. It is down the cliff paths to such a beach that the writer Robert Graves would go daily from his house overlooking the sea at Deià.
Luxury development will always go on in Mallorca, of course, but the climate for sensible regeneration which respects the exclusive nature of so much of the island and at the same time keeps the buyer safer, has probably never been healthier.