British buyers dreaming of a sun-soaked bolt-hole in Spain’s Balearic Islands could soon find the door firmly shut.

Politicians across Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza are preparing to debate radical new proposals that would restrict who can buy property on the islands – a move aimed squarely at easing a deepening housing crisis blamed on mass tourism and foreign demand.

Under the plans, non-residents would be barred from purchasing homes unless they have lived on the islands for at least five years. The bill has been tabled by the left-wing regional party Més per Mallorca, which says extraordinary action is now unavoidable.

The scale of the problem is stark. Around 90,000 homes in the Balearics – roughly 16 per cent of the housing stock – are already owned by foreign nationals. British buyers remain among the most dominant players in the Spanish property market, with nearly 12,000 homes bought by UK citizens in 2024 alone, according to figures from Idealista.

Across Spain, foreign purchasers accounted for 13.8 per cent of all property sales last year – almost 97,300 transactions – the highest figure on record.

Supporters of the proposed ban say it could become a blueprint for other parts of Spain, pointing to Denmark, where foreign buyers must typically live in the country for five consecutive years before being allowed to purchase property.

But critics warn the plan may be dead on arrival. Sebastià Sagreras of the centre-right People's Party said EU freedom-of-movement rules meant the proposal “cannot be fulfilled”, confirming his party would oppose it.

Even allies are cautious. Marc Pons of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party said restrictions on buyers could not be the sole answer to the housing crisis, despite backing limits on visitor numbers.

The Balearic proposal is the latest in a series of moves by Spain to rein in overseas buyers. Last year, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez floated the idea of a tax of up to 100 per cent on properties purchased by non-residents from outside the EU, arguing it would help tackle soaring prices. The measure has yet to pass parliament and has sparked fears it could actually push prices higher as buyers rush to beat any new rules.

Pressure is most intense in the Balearics, now among Spain’s most expensive regions. The average price of a modest 90-square-metre home has surged to around £403,000, up from £248,000 just four years ago.

Whether the proposals survive legal and political scrutiny remains uncertain. But for British buyers eyeing a Mediterranean escape, the message from the Balearics is becoming increasingly clear: the era of easy second-home ownership may be coming to an end. Photo by sladky, Wikimedia commons.