It would seem that holiday rentals were viewed as better for avoiding social contact.

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Figures from the Balearics Statistics Institute show that the fall in the number of tourists who stayed in holiday rental accommodation in July and August was lower than for hotels. For holiday rentals, Ibestat reports there was a 56% decrease in July and a 47.9% drop in August. The decreases for hotels were 81.4% in July and 77% in August.

The figures also indicate that 24% of all August holidaymakers opted for holiday rentals. In August 2019 this was 13%.

In July, hotels had a total of 370,495 guests, whereas there were 170,706 tourists in holiday rentals. In August, hotels did better. There were 426,254 guests, while the number for holiday rentals was lower - 157,690.

Although a number of hotels didn't open, a lack of beds wasn't a reason for choosing holiday rental accommodation instead. Hotel occupancy was at best 70%. Avoiding social contact with other guests was almost certainly a reason.

For people with second homes in the Balearics and people travelling to stay in friends' homes, there was a 14.4% decrease in July to 90,970. In August, by when travel restrictions were having an impact, the fall was much greater - down 40% to 62,827.