On Monday, the Consell de Mallorca awarded 1,069 tourist rental units through a public lottery held in the island government’s plenary hall. In this way, the Minister of Tourism, Guillem Ginard, has finally brought to a close a process that has been dragging on since last year, when IT problems at the island’s department derailed several attempts to allocate the slots in the order in which applications were received.
“This lottery is more than just an administrative formality. It demonstrates that institutions can act with transparency, objectivity, and equal opportunity for everyone,” stated Regional Minister Ginard, who emphasized that this procedure does not involve an increase in Mallorca’s tourist capacity limit. “We are not creating new tourist spots or increasing tourist pressure on our island; what we are doing is managing a temporary pool provided for by current regulations and making available spots that are already part of the system.” The procedure chosen for this, he stressed, “is transparent, orderly, and subject to public oversight.”
This process, approved last March by the governing board of the Tourist Accommodation Exchange Consortium, began early this morning with the public display of all the numbers participating in the drawing before they were placed in a ballot box. In total, there were 721 applicants for a total of 1,060 spots. The concern expressed by those interested, who were asking for guarantees that their number would be included in the selection, led the Consell to opt for a system that left no room for doubt. The institution’s secretary general, Antoni Benlloch, was tasked with drawing the slip of paper from the box that would determine the assignments. The number drawn was 621, which marks the start of the order in which applications were processed (meaning that the successful applicants were those numbered 621 and higher, up to the total number of spots).
The event was presided over by Ginard himself and the island’s director of Educational Programs and Quality, Clara Del Moral. To ensure maximum transparency in the process, the event was open to the public and broadcast live on the Consell’s official YouTube channel.
As the regional minister explained, this call for applications does not involve the creation of new tourism positions; rather, it consists of positions vacated in previous calls, in order to comply with the rotation system set forth in current tourism regulations. Thus, this pool included the 654 positions that could not be filled in September due to the aforementioned technical issues, as well as nearly 500 others resulting from cancellations in recent months.
The call for applications also includes the creation of a six-month waiting list for applicants who were not selected. This system will allow for the allocation of spots that become available in the pool as a result of new withdrawals. “This procedure means greater order and legal certainty, promotes legal activity over illegal activity, and provides opportunities to those citizens who comply with the rules and wish to carry out their business with full guarantees,” Ginard stated.
