At the start of 2024, there were 87 hotels and 3,821 hotel beds in Palma's historic centre. Many of the hotels were of the boutique variety; 33 of these had been developed by 2021. Typically old houses that belonged to the nobility, conversion into small hotels has been a means of restoring these buildings and saving them from dilapidation.
A new boutique hotel is to be developed. This is at number 32 on C. Concepció and is next to an existing five-star establishment operated by the Nobis Hospitality Group. The two (32 and 34) were once a single unit that was known as Can Feliu and later as Can Nadal. They were separated in 1917. The same developer of number 34 is behind this new hotel.
The town hall's urban planning commission has granted the building a Level B designation. This will allow it to be used for tourism purposes. The designation required a raising of the level of heritage protection that was approved on Friday by the Partido Popular, who govern the town hall, with the support of Vox. Opposition parties were against this revised designation.
Final approval will have to be given at a full meeting of the council, but this should be a formality, as the PP and Vox have a majority. At the meeting of the commission, Neus Truyol of Més criticised the process of designation. It was so that the application for conversion would have the necessary legal mechanism. The application did however refer to the "urgency" of preservation. The planned hotel will have to be five-star and can have no more than 20 rooms.
The commission's approval does bring into focus the debate as to how many hotels there should be in the historic centre. The new secretary general of PSOE in Palma, former tourism minister Iago Negueruela, said last weekend that if PSOE return to power in 2027, "there will be no more hotels in Palma".
3 comments
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
These palaces are not suitable for affordable housing as price is too high. Small high end hotels create jobs and do not bring mass tourism so thumbs up for this.
Boutique hotels are more often frequented by higher wealth individuals staying for a few nights at a time. So there isn’t much of a negative impact regarding mass tourism considering room quantity per property. Many of these buildings have been passed from developer to developer over the years, having been left empty and allowed to fall into disrepair, whilst the value has increased due to demand. A considered and respectful structural refurbishment, that retains historic features is much better for the heritage of the property than to fully gut the building and squeeze in the maximum number of apartments - which would demand energy usage and generate more waste. The refurbished building into an hotel also benefits from continual maintenance - something that social housing would lack.
This is a double edged sword really, some of these buildings are in poor state, and the architectural feel of the city really benefits from their restoration. But as the article says, how many more does the city need? Is there any possibility for social housing use?