Change to rural land regulations in Mallorca

Mallorca is one of the Balearic Islands with the greatest tourist and holiday appeal, which is why more and more people are interested in buying land on this wonderful island. If you own land or are currently looking for rural land in Mallorca, you have surely heard rumours about an imminent change to rural land regulations in Mallorca.

At Slow Studio, we have several projects in rural areas of Mallorca, and for this reason we are well informed about everything that is currently happening both in the town halls and at the Consell Insular. In today’s article, we will try to bring you up to date on what the rural land regulations currently state and what changes are expected to be introduced.

Building on rural land in Mallorca: what changes will the regulations introduce?

In general, building on rural land is a controversial issue throughout Spain. Clients often come to our studio with many questions about this topic.

To answer these questions, we must refer to the municipal planning regulations, which govern the possibilities and limitations of each plot according to its specific classification.

Today we will analyse only the case of the island of Mallorca, as a possible change to rural land regulations in Mallorca has recently been under consideration.

This has shaken up the sector and has also raised many doubts among owners who do not know what to expect or how to deal with the change, should it be implemented.

Let us look step by step at what the current regulations consist of and which aspects could be affected.

What is considered rural land?

This article will cover very technical regulatory topics, so it is worth briefly defining certain terms that will appear.

Current rural land regulations in Mallorca

Current rural land regulations in Mallorca allow the construction of detached single-family homes in certain situations and areas, which we will specify later. By contrast, the construction of multi-family housing or buildings intended for other uses is prohibited on land classified as rural land in Mallorca.

These restrictions were imposed to curb mass construction on the island—construction that was also carried out in a disorderly manner and without urban planning—in order to meet and speculate on the island’s high tourist demand.

Consequently, as established by Mallorca’s Rural Land Act 6/1997, land grouped under this designation is subject to planning whose objectives are based on sustainable urban development, assigning each plot a specific and binding zoning designation according to its characteristics.

We can find:

These cases are excluded from urban development; that is, building on land whose zoning is one of those mentioned above is prohibited in order to preserve the natural environment.

On the other hand, if our land is classified as Common rural land, we may build our detached single-family home provided we meet additional requirements set out in Rule 20 of the Mallorca Territorial Plan and comply with the limitation of a single detached single-family home per plot.

In these cases, it is important to know the total area of the plot and the year of its deed, as these are two factors that will affect us when applying for and obtaining a building permit.

Can I build a home on rural land in Mallorca?

Having seen this, we can move on to the part of the regulations that specifies the conditions and parameters for the use and construction of detached single-family homes – AP (Rule 20 of the Mallorca Territorial Planning Plan).

These limitations on the siting and use of detached single-family housing on land classified as Rural Areas of Landscape Interest (ARIP), Areas of Agricultural Interest (AIA), Harmonisation Transition Areas (AT-H), General Regime Forest Rural Land (SRG-F), Risk Prevention Areas (APR) and General Regime Rural Land (SRG) must meet the requirements summarised below, as determined by the general planning framework of the area where the land is located.

The first aspect we must consider is what the minimum land area is that we will need to build our home.
To date, there are two general “minimum units”, which vary depending on the land’s zoning designation:

However, it should be noted that these are the minimum measures required by the currently applicable Mallorca Territorial Plan, but as we will discuss below, there are rumours of a change to rural land regulations in Mallorca that appears set to modify these minimum values.

Secondly, as mentioned, it is also important to take into account the date of the plot’s deed. This is because another of the conditions and parameters for the use and construction of detached single-family homes – AP establishes:

(a) That the date of its deed is prior to 16 July 1997

(b) That, if it is a plot whose segregation was carried out between 16 July 1997 and before 13 October 1999, the use of a single-family home may only be authorised when this division, segregation or fragmentation has not resulted, simultaneously or successively, in more than five independent registered units, excluding the parent property, unless they were subsequently regrouped below this limit or it concerns actions covered in the following point and the minimum plot size requirement of this rule is met.

(c) Refers to plots segregated from 13 October 1999 onwards. In these cases, the use of a single-family home is prohibited except for those arising from a first division, segregation or fragmentation executed in a public document by virtue of a donation or inheritance from parents to children, with the exception limited, in both cases, to a maximum of one plot per child and only once.

Only on land that meets these conditions may the use of rural land be authorised for the construction of a building; it appears that the change to rural land regulations in Mallorca will not alter these conditions.

Finally, there are other requirements we must take into account:

(d) That, in the area where we intend to site a detached single-family home, construction is not prohibited by the general planning framework and that the conditions it establishes are always met.

(e) Only one home may be authorised per plot.

Again, the change to rural land regulations in Mallorca does not, a priori, foresee modifying these conditions. Strict compliance with the regulations is very important, as we must not forget that, in addition to representing a financial penalty for the owner, if the home cannot be legalised, demolition may be ordered.

Characteristics of building on rural land in Mallorca

Once we know whether or not we can build on our plot, it is logical to ask:

What must this construction be like? Can I build whatever I want?

The answer to these questions is: No. The island regulations set out a series of conditions that each town hall may also adjust.

Therefore, in each case, the specific regulations of the Town Hall where the home is to be built must be consulted.

For this reason, we recommend that the architect commissioned for the work is the one who studies these terms and limitations imposed by the regulations, in order to develop the housing project without breaching any requirement.

Possible amendments to Mallorca’s rural land law

Up to this point, we have summarised the most relevant points of the current rural land regulations in Mallorca.

Let us now try to clarify certain aspects regarding a possible change to rural land regulations in Mallorca.

There are rumours claiming that the regulation establishing an area of 14,000 m² to build a detached single-family home has been put under review to modify it by setting a minimum of 30,000 m² of land (i.e., double).

This change to rural land regulations in Mallorca has the main objective of rationalising residential, tourist or mixed urban growth to ensure sustainable development on the island.

The proposal to increase the minimum plot size on rural land put forward by the Consell Territorial sets out three options:

A first option would increase it to 21,000 m² (three cuarteradas) as the minimum area to allow building; another to 28,000 m² (four cuarteradas); and an intermediate option that would set an area of 25,000 m², which would mean moving away from the traditional Mallorcan measurement based on a cuarterada, which is 7,103 metres.

As a note on this last point, in the past, rural areas in Mallorca were divided into “cuarteras”, i.e., portions of land of 7,103 m². The regulations required combining two of these cuarteras or units in order to build a home while also maintaining certain cultivation units.

Submitting a project for a house on rural land in Mallorca

As this amendment is not yet in force and its final approval is not very clear, one recommendation we can give you if you own a plot whose situation may be affected by the change to rural land regulations in Mallorca is to submit a basic housing project to the Town Hall.

Why submit a basic project?

A basic project is the minimum documentation required to process a building permit. If you apply for the building permit for the project before the change in the law, you will secure the construction permit, and even if there are changes to the conditions and requirements established by Mallorca’s rural land regulations, you will be able to build your home under the conditions in force at the time it was submitted.