Half A Million Strong: Building Mallorca

Half a million strong. Half a million more. That's the number of extra inhabitants the Balearics, which currently have a population of 1.1 million, could accommodate under current plans, most of them in Mallorca.

As ever, the headline-grabber, the half a million, is not all that it seems. A goodly sized chunk of what could be built, according to those plans, is designated for tourism purposes. In other words, the inhabitants would be temporary. Nevertheless, the increase in building and population which could occur - stress, could occur - is dramatic.

In 2001, nearly 6,000 hectares were set aside for new urbanisation. Of these, slightly under a fifth have been built on. Some land has since been reclassified, meaning that it cannot be urbanised, but 4,000 hectares remain, enough for over 150,000 properties and the half a million inhabitants.

So what, you might think. Some perspective is needed in order to give an indication as to what this might represent.

On Mallorca, says research from the university, only six per cent of the island's land is strictly speaking "constructed". It doesn't sound much, but when you factor in mountains, other natural features, agricultural needs, as well as restrictions on construction, it may well be right. And because it doesn't sound much, the capacity for extra building, envisaged under the 2001 plan, becomes all the more striking. Were all the 6,000 hectares built on in Mallorca alone, and as I say it does account for most of the available land, this would equate to an increase in excess of 25% more "constructed" area on the island.

Six thousand hectares approximate to something less than 2% of the entire land mass of Mallorca. Again, it doesn't sound like much. But the strategy for development (and you cannot also ignore roads and other infrastructure developments that are not included) is one of "compact towns". Compact can just as easily become overpowering.

When you break all this down by town, you begin to get a clearer picture of what it might all mean. In Palma alone, land which remains unbuilt on but which could be built on would yield over 100,000 more inhabitants. There are currently just over 400,000. In the regions, the potential increases are just as if not more dramatic: Manacor, over 25,000 more people, a rise of 60%; Alcúdia, nearly 10,000, 50% more and of which 2,000 would be tourists. In one instance, Artà, the population would all but double. In Campos, it would rise by over 200%.

These latter two examples are unusual under this plan. Neither town has a particularly strong tourism basis. In Artà, the potential exists for over a half of the designated development to be for tourism. In Campos, which has cried out for more tourism opportunities and been largely spurned, as with its golf development, a quarter of the new build would be for tourism purposes. Both towns would, therefore, stand to benefit significantly. But at what cost?

Building in Artà that has already occurred has, as an example, seen Colonia San Pere grow quite markedly in a short period. Revenue generation for individual town halls notwithstanding, the obvious question arises as to how sustainable or indeed advisable such developments and increases in population are.

The first decade of this century witnessed a massive rise in population. 170,000 more people. Despite a prediction that the population of Mallorca will rise by only 7% during this decade, this doesn't square with what could be the case under the plan. And with more people come greater demand on services and greater strain on the environment. It is for these reasons that the dramatic rises are unlikely to occur. The regional government just doesn't have the money to support them, while it is also sensitive to an environmental lobby which would seek to limit a new boom in housing and tourism development, as and when the crisis in the construction industry were to come to an end. The counter to this is that construction is also a powerful lobby.

Half a million strong? Yasker's Mallorcan farm and finca is in all likelihood safe for now. Half a million more is probably just a way of grabbing attention. Which is not to say, however, that certain towns might not be singled out. In Artà and Campos they would probably welcome it. There again, they might not.


Any comments to andrew@thealcudiaguide.com please.