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Author: Sofia Nisco
Mallorca Cracks Down on Illegal Tourist Rentals as Sanction Cases Jump 40%
Mallorca is stepping up its enforcement against illegal tourist accommodation, with authorities opening 146 sanction proceedings in just seven months — already 40% more than during the whole of 2025. The crackdown on unlicensed holiday rentals in Mallorca is intensifying. New figures from the Consell de Mallorca show that between January and July 2026, authorities initiated 146 sanction…
Estepona Outpaces Marbella and Benahavís for New-Build Sales
New figures from the Golden Triangle Q2 2026 Market Report reveal a clear divide emerging across the Costa del Sol, with Estepona recording almost twice as many new-build transactions as Marbella in 2025. Estepona is strengthening its position as the new-build centre of the Golden Triangle. According to the latest market analysis published by JUST…
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53 Million m², 18,000 Homes and 20% Protected Housing: Marbella Approves Its New Urban Plan
Marbella has definitively approved its new Plan General de Ordenación Municipal (PGOM), replacing a general planning framework dating back to 1986 and opening a new chapter for one of Spain’s most important property markets. Last week, NLS Spain reported that Marbella was approaching one of its most significant urban planning decisions in decades. Now, the…
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Wildfire Above Benahavís Tests Costa del Sol’s High-Risk Season
BENAHAVÍS, Costa del Sol — A fast-moving wildfire that broke out Sunday near the Ermita del Rosario, just off the A-7175 leading into Benahavís, remained active into a second day on Monday, keeping one of the Costa del Sol’s most sought-after inland towns on alert. The blaze was first reported to emergency services shortly after midday…
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New EU Holiday Rental Rules Could Reshape Spain’s Airbnb Market
The European Commission has unveiled a new EU-wide framework that would make it easier for cities and regions to restrict short-term holiday rentals in areas suffering from housing pressure — a proposal with direct implications for Spain’s ongoing Airbnb debate. Under the plan, local and national authorities would gain a clearer legal basis for limiting…
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Marbella’s New Planning Framework: What the September 18 Vote Actually Changes
On Friday, September 18, Marbella’s town hall will hold an extraordinary plenary session to give definitive approval to the city’s new General Urban Development Plan (PGOM) — a document that has been seven years in the making and that will formally retire a planning framework dating back to 1986. The vote will make Marbella the…
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North Mallorca 2026: A Deep Dive Into Pollensa, Formentor, Puerto Pollensa and Alcúdia
North Mallorca has spent years building its reputation quietly. While the southwest holds the island’s densest concentration of luxury infrastructure, Pollensa, Puerto Pollensa, Alcúdia and the Formentor peninsula draw a different kind of buyer — someone after character, a slower pace of life and, increasingly, better value per square metre — according to a detailed…
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Balearic Social Housing Model Wins Architecture’s 2026 OBEL Award
A public housing initiative developed in the Balearic Islands has won the 2026 OBEL Award, one of architecture’s most significant international prizes, the OBEL Foundation announced. The award, based in Copenhagen, recognizes the “Balearic Social Housing Model” for transforming how social housing has been planned, procured and built across the islands between 2019 and 2023.…
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The Americans Are Coming to the Costa del Sol — And They Are Buying at the Top of the Market
U.S. buyers still account for a relatively small share of Spain’s foreign property purchases. Their spending power tells a very different story. MARBELLA, Spain — For decades, the foreign buyer on Spain’s Costa del Sol was relatively easy to picture. British buyers established themselves across Mijas, Estepona and Marbella. Scandinavians became an important force in Fuengirola…
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Spain Needs Builders: The Labour Shortage Threatening the Coastal Property Boom
12,000 workers needed on the Costa del Sol. A 50,000-worker deficit reported in Alicante. Around 6,000 more needed in the Balearics. Spain wants to build more homes — but who is going to build them? For years, Spain’s housing debate has revolved around one overriding problem: There are not enough homes. The proposed solutions have…
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