Mallorca's 'Caravanistas' forced into camps as housing crisis deepens

The island of Mallorca is a luxury paradise for some – sun, sea, cuisine, culture, and private yachts.

For others, it's a struggle for survival.

In April, Spain approved an $8bn plan that will triple government investment in public housing over four years to tackle a serious crisis that has left many Spaniards locked out of buying, or even renting a home.

On the island of Mallorca, many people serving the luxury class can't afford a home, buying is a distant dream and even renting has become near-impossible.

'Caravanistas' is the Spanish word used for people forced to live in caravan settlements as Spain's housing crisis forces people into ever more precarious situations.

Begoña Iglesias Moreno lives at the Son Hugo caravan camp – a makeshift settlement in the car park of a public swimming pool – one of dozens dotted around Mallorca.

She introduces us to Lia, the dog that isn't hers but one she often looks after. Residents here look out for each other and the community is tight.

As she takes us into her caravan she points to a living room area. "We had six people here for a birthday last week," she says, then pointing to a cramped bed setup, "this is where I sleep, and this is where my son sleeps."

Begoña is 62 and like the vast majority of the Son Hugo residents, works full time, as does her 24-year-old son. She is a parking inspector and he's the number two chef in a hotel.

Most of the people who live here work in hospitality, others work cleaning houses and caring for the elderly.

Mallorca house prices

"I work six days a week and with what my son and I earn put together we still can't get a place," Begoña says.

Low wages and rising inflation have priced many Spaniards out of the market, and analysts say tourism and population growth in cities driven by immigration have further strained supply.

Rent prices have more than doubled in Mallorca over the past 10 years, and just a room in a shared apartment can cost close to $1500 a month. In winter, Begoña earns less than half of that.

Evicted from her home in 2022, and escaping an abusive partner, she spent six months living in a car before eventually ending up in a caravan.

The first one she rented she called it 'Niagara' because when it rained, the water flowed through from all sides, the caravan where she lives now is slowly becoming hers through a rent-to-buy scheme.

Life in Mallorca's Nomadlands isn't easy, the temperature inside the caravans can top 45 degrees Celsius, and running water is a problem. The residents shower in the municipal swimming pool next door, one place where they suffer discrimination. Other users complain they have to share the services with the caravanistas.

Last year local politician Fulgencio Coll, spokesperson for the far-right VOX party, called the caravanistas "criminal delinquents," and town hall laws proposed by the governing PP local mayor also aim to outlaw caravan camps like Son Hugo.

"As if we were walking through the streets with AK47s gunning people down," dismisses Begoña.

She is now President of the Son Hugo Caravan Camp Association, a community organising to fight for their rights.

"They say they have created places for us, but you can only stay 72 hours, many of these caravans can't be moved or people don't have cars to move them.

"We need real solutions with running water. We have electricity, you can see the solar panels on the roof of each caravan. We're not asking for this for free, we're willing to pay. We look after our areas, look how clean it is around here."

Begoña takes a break to scold a young resident of the park who's been driving his car too fast and blaring the music too loud.

Spain's ambitious new social housing drive

The Spanish government knows, and often repeats, that housing is the biggest issue facing Spaniards, and on April 21 announced ambitious plans: over $8 billion in measures to address the crisis, with most of the money going to new social housing, renovating old stock and providing subsidies to young people as well as the elderly and those living in areas under extreme market pressure.

Crucially, new social housing will not include an option to buy, meaning that it won't disappear into the private stock in a few years as has happened in the past.

Spain has one of the lowest social housing stocks in Europe, with social rental dwellings representing only 1.5% to 2.5% of its total housing stock, significantly below the EU-27 average of around 9.3% to 10.5%. The OECD average is 7%. In France, it is 14%, Britain 16% and the Netherlands 34%.

One problem with the new plan is that social housing will take years to build and complete, Spain's bureaucracy is notoriously slow, and projects will need to go through layers of national, regional, and local governments, which are often at odds politically, and Begoña says, for her, the most important measure is missing:

"We need limits on tourist lets, at 20 or 30% of housing, or less even, the short term tourist rental apartments have to go to the people who live and work here."

While the new measures do include some provisions to take illegal tourist lets off websites like AirBnB, they do not put strict limits on numbers.

Experts call it "a significant step forward," but does this positive announcement give some hope to the people living in the Son Hugo settlement?

"People here don't really have much hope," Begoña says, "young people feel like they don't have a future, so many of them are leaving the island to look for work abroad. The only hope I have is to win the lottery, that's the only way I could afford to buy my own home."

Spain's big housing announcement comes a year before general elections but it's yet to unlock much hope in those currently suffering the worst of Spain's housing crisis.