Palma is a municipality on Mallorca, and it is a city rather than a resort. INE's Censo Anual de Poblacion counts 443,196 residents at 1 January 2025, a scale that changes what a buyer is looking at: university hospitals on IB-Salut's list printing Palma addresses, a metro line whose printed stops include UIB and ParcBit, and the airport Aena names for the city, which recorded 33.8 million passenger movements across 2025. Movements, not tourists.
Two INE operations publish a figure for Palma at that same date, and they disagree. The padron revision gives 434,786; the Censo Anual gives 443,196. Neither corrects the other, and every share on this page comes from the Censo Anual alone. On that basis, and subtracting INE's Spanish counts from its totals, about a fifth of residents hold a foreign nationality and just over three in ten were born abroad. The largest foreign nationality groups are Colombian, Italian, Moroccan, German and Argentine.
Idealista's July 2026 report gives an asking price for Palma de Mallorca and for thirteen of the sixteen districts it lists. The other three carry no price at all, because Idealista moves a zone up to the next geographic layer when the sample is too thin. Across the districts it does price, the dearest asks more than twice the cheapest per square metre, so the single city figure averages markets that have little to do with each other.
The verdict
The upside is real. So is the downside. Both matter more than any brochure will admit.
A rail service that is running today
The Consorci de Transports de Mallorca publishes T1 to Inca, T2 to sa Pobla, T3 to Manacor and the M1 metro, each showing a timetable in force from 1 September 2026 and carrying no suspension or replacement-bus notice.
An airport in Aena's published network
Aena's network list includes Palma de Mallorca, which recorded 33.8 million passenger movements across 2025. Those are passenger movements rather than tourist arrivals, and we draw no catchment or travel-time claim from them.
Idealista prices thirteen separate districts here
Its July 2026 report gives an asking price for thirteen of the sixteen Palma districts it lists. Of the Mallorcan municipalities we cover, no other is broken down anywhere near this finely.
University hospitals on IB-Salut's list print Palma addresses
IB-Salut's Hospitales page prints a Palma address for Hospital Universitario Son Espases, in the Ponent sector, and for Hospital Universitario Son Llàtzer, in Migjorn. That page covers IB-Salut's public network and no more. The split between them is why we name no single reference hospital.
AEMET publishes normals for two stations it names for Palma
AEMET publishes climate normals for two stations it names for Palma, the airport station and the port station. Both cover the 1981 to 2010 period; there is no 1991 to 2020 Balearic set in that normals service.
Two official population counts, and they differ
INE's padron revision gives 434,786 residents and its Censo Anual gives 443,196, both at 1 January 2025. We use the Censo Anual throughout and do not reconcile the two, because no factor converts one into the other.
Three listed districts carry no published price
Sa Indioteria - Son Castelló, Secar de la Real and Son Ferriol - Sant Jordi appear in Idealista's district list with no asking price at all, so we show no price band for them. It is a sample rule, not a judgement on the areas.
No single reference hospital for the city
IB-Salut divides Palma between the Ponent and Migjorn sectors, and those sectors have different reference hospitals. We leave the field empty rather than name one and let it read as though it covered the whole municipality.
The city average hides a very wide spread
Among the districts Idealista prices in July 2026, the dearest asks more than twice the cheapest per square metre. A single municipal figure tells you very little about the street you are actually buying on.
The resident mix is not northern European
On INE's Censo Anual, the largest foreign nationality groups in Palma are Colombian, Italian, Moroccan, German and Argentine, with British nationals further down the same list. Who lives somewhere is not the same question as who buys there.
Editor's note
Palma is a city, and the reasons to buy here are city reasons: university hospitals on IB-Salut's list printing Palma addresses, a rail service running today, an airport in Aena's network. If what you want is a small town where the shopkeeper knows your name, this is the wrong page.
Of the Mallorcan municipalities we cover, Alcúdia, Pollença and Sóller sit on none of TIB's train or metro lines, and none of the three has an AEMET station publishing climate normals, so we print no climate table for any of them. The price picture is thinner too: Idealista prices three districts in Alcúdia, two of the three it lists in Pollença, and none at all in Sóller.
Health follows the sector rather than the map. Alcúdia and Pollença are in the Tramuntana sector, whose reference hospital IB-Salut names as Hospital Comarcal de Inca; Sóller is in Migjorn, whose reference hospital is Son Llàtzer, the same sector as part of Palma. If you want a smaller place and can live with thinner published data, those three are the honest alternatives. If you want city scale and the fullest data we hold on Mallorca, this is the page.
Updated 2026-09-01
Updated 2026-09-01
Where to live and what to expect at each price point.
Dearest of the thirteen priced districts, at about half as much again as the municipal figure per square metre. Its asking level did not move over the year to July 2026, while the city as a whole rose.
Second dearest of the thirteen priced districts, close to half as much again as the municipal figure per square metre. It rose over the year to July 2026 at about half as much again as the city's own pace.
The old town, third of the thirteen priced districts and about a third above the municipal figure per square metre. It rose over the year to July 2026 at close to two and a half times the city's own pace.
Fourth of the thirteen priced districts, close to a fifth above the municipal figure per square metre. It rose over the year to July 2026 at about half the city's own pace.
Fifth of the thirteen priced districts and an eighth or so above the municipal figure per square metre. It rose over the year to July 2026 a little ahead of the city's own pace.
Sixth of the thirteen priced districts and the first of them below the municipal figure per square metre, at around six sevenths of it. It rose over the year to July 2026 somewhat behind the city's own pace.
Seventh of the thirteen priced districts, at about four fifths of the municipal figure per square metre. It rose over the year to July 2026 a little behind the city's own pace.
Eighth of the thirteen priced districts, at about three quarters of the municipal figure per square metre. It rose over the year to July 2026 at roughly half the city's own pace.
Ninth of the thirteen priced districts, at about three quarters of the municipal figure per square metre, and one of the districts that rose over the year to July 2026 somewhat ahead of the city's own pace.
Tenth of the thirteen priced districts, at a little under three quarters of the municipal figure per square metre. It rose over the year to July 2026 somewhat ahead of the city's own pace.
Eleventh of the thirteen priced districts, at about two thirds of the municipal figure per square metre, yet much the fastest riser of them over the year to July 2026, at more than four times the city's own pace.
Twelfth of the thirteen priced districts, at about two thirds of the municipal figure per square metre, and among the slower risers over the year to July 2026, at well under half the city's own pace.
Cheapest of the thirteen priced districts, at two thirds of the municipal figure per square metre, but one of the faster risers over the year to July 2026, at about twice the city's own pace.
Honest answers to the questions buyers actually ask.
Transfer tax rates as of August 2026. Rates are set per autonomous community and do change. Confirm the current figures with a Spanish lawyer or tax adviser before you budget.
Deep knowledge of Palma de Mallorca and its real estate market.
We accompany you throughout the entire process, from search to closing.
Access to the best properties before they reach the market.
Our AI technology matches you with perfect properties faster than traditional search.
Our step-by-step guide covers everything foreign buyers need to know, NIE numbers, Golden Visa, mortgages and the legal process.
Estimate monthly payments, compare loan scenarios and understand the true cost of buying in Spain.