Mallorca or Menorca: winter, jobs, rent and prices, measured

The biggest difference between the islands is not the sea or the beaches: it is that Mallorca has a city. In January, Palma de Mallorca keeps 91 % of its peak number of cafés, hotels and shops, and 66 % of the people working in them. On Menorca, the best January belongs to Maó: 70 % of businesses and 47 % of jobs. Yet by jobs, Mallorca's resort north empties out in winter more than any of our places on Menorca.

This compares our places, not whole islands. On Mallorca we cover 3 of the island's 53 municipalities: Palma de Mallorca, Alcúdia and Pollença. On Menorca, 4 of 8: Ciutadella de Menorca, Maó, Alaior and Es Castell. Almost every figure comes from a state series: social security, the housing ministry, the census. The exceptions, asking prices and flights, are marked where they appear.

Winter: how much work is left

Our winter score looks at January and at businesses. For choosing between the islands that is not enough, so here are two steps further. First, the whole year: how many months run below three quarters of the peak number of businesses. Second, people: how many are on the books at cafés, hotels and shops. A business can keep its account open in winter and let its staff go, so winter shows more sharply in people. Social security, 2025.

• Months below three quarters of the peak: Palma de Mallorca 0; Maó 3; Pollença 4; Alcúdia 5; Ciutadella de Menorca, Alaior and Es Castell 6.
• Jobs in January against the best month: Palma de Mallorca 66 %, Maó 47 %, Es Castell 42 %, Alaior 30 %, Ciutadella de Menorca 30 %, Pollença 27 %, Alcúdia 18 %.
• In January, 48,494 people work in these three trades in Palma de Mallorca: 10 times as many as in all four of our Menorca places together.

This is the main finding. In Mallorca's resort north, Alcúdia and Pollença, 18–27 % of jobs remain in winter: fewer than at any of our places on Menorca. The gap between Mallorca's capital and its north is wider than the gap between Mallorca and Menorca. The best month for jobs is July or August, depending on the place.

When the season starts and ends

January is one month. For anyone thinking of living on an island all year, what matters more is how many months in a row a town runs close to full strength. Here the season means the months when cafés, hotels and shops employ at least three quarters of the people they do in the best month. The threshold is the same as above, and it is ours.

• Palma de Mallorca: March to October, 8 months.
• Alcúdia, Pollença and Maó: April to September, 6 months.
• Ciutadella de Menorca, Alaior and Es Castell: May to September, 5 months.

Palma de Mallorca has the longest season: 8 months. Everywhere else it ends in the same month, September; only the start differs. The deepest drop from summer to January is in Alcúdia and Pollença: the season there starts earlier than at most of our Menorca places, and winter goes deeper.

The table shows the share of jobs against the best month, November to April. Rows run from the fullest winter to the emptiest.

Rent: what tenants already pay

The housing ministry publishes the median rent on existing leases for 2024. It is not today's asking rent: older leases are in the sample, so the figure sits below what an empty flat is advertised for. But it is counted the same way on both islands. Primary source.

In Palma de Mallorca the median is €800 a month, €9.84 per m². At our Menorca places it is €500–€583 a month, €6.89–€8.05 per m². In Mallorca's north, €650–€678, €7.87–€8.11 per m². The number of leases behind each figure is in the table: the fewer, the rougher the median.

Income is worth setting next to rent. The statistics office publishes average net income per resident by municipality; the latest year is 2023. A year of median rent in Palma de Mallorca equals 59 % of that income; at our Menorca places, 38–43 %; in Mallorca's north, 49–52 %. Income per resident in Palma de Mallorca and in Maó, Menorca's capital, differs by 1 %; rent differs by 37 %. The comparison is rough: rent is per home, income per person, and the years differ. But it is counted the same way for all seven places. Income by municipality.

Buying: three towns on one basis

The housing ministry publishes appraised values only for municipalities of 25,000 residents or more. Of our seven places, that means Ciutadella de Menorca, Palma de Mallorca and Maó. For Alcúdia, Pollença, Alaior and Es Castell there is only the asking price in listings, which cannot be set against an appraisal: appraisals run systematically lower. The ministry's bulletin.

• Ciutadella de Menorca (Menorca): €4,077 per m², appraised.
• Palma de Mallorca (Mallorca): €3,792 per m², appraised.
• Maó (Menorca): €2,981 per m², appraised.

Ciutadella de Menorca costs €1,096 per m² more than Maó, or 37 %. In between: Palma de Mallorca at €3,792, which by appraisal sits closer to Ciutadella de Menorca (€285 apart) than to Maó (€811).

Homes that are nobody's main home

The 2021 housing census splits homes into main homes, where someone lives all year, and the rest: second homes, empty homes, homes let to visitors. The second figure is the share of homes registered as tourist lets, as of 30 April 2026. Housing census, tourist lets.

Of our seven places, Pollença has the largest share of homes that are not a main home, 53.1 %, and Palma de Mallorca the smallest, 15.8 %. Pollença has the most tourist lets: 17 % of all homes. The higher these shares, the more of a town's homes wait for summer rather than for a year-round tenant.

Who the neighbours are

From the census as of 1 January 2025. It counts registered residents with a foreign passport; an owner of a second home who has not registered is not in these figures. Primary source.

Britons are the largest foreign group in 3 of the seven: Pollença, Alaior and Es Castell. Our four Menorca places have 1,346 British residents, our three Mallorca places 3,776; in Palma de Mallorca they rank 9th. Palma de Mallorca's largest groups are Colombia 13,306, Italy 10,003, Morocco 5,536: the city draws ordinary urban migration, not resort migration.

The drive to hospital

The nearest general public hospital in the national catalogue, and the driving time by road without traffic. It is not an ambulance time. Hospital catalogue.

• Palma de Mallorca: Hospital Son Llatzer, Palma, 10 min, 5 km.
• Alcúdia: Hospital Comarcal D´Inca, Inca, 22 min, 26 km.
• Pollença: Hospital Comarcal D´Inca, Inca, 31 min, 32 km.
• Ciutadella de Menorca: Hospital Mateu Orfila, Maó-Mahón, 45 min, 46 km.
• Maó: Hospital Mateu Orfila, Maó-Mahón, 6 min, 3 km.
• Alaior: Hospital Mateu Orfila, Maó-Mahón, 16 min, 13 km.
• Es Castell: Hospital Mateu Orfila, Maó-Mahón, 8 min, 5 km.

For all our Menorca places the nearest is the same hospital, Hospital Mateu Orfila. The longest drive is from Ciutadella de Menorca: 45 min.

Flying home in January

This section is not based on state data. We counted the destinations with direct flights at least once a week in January ourselves, from the airport timetables on Wikipedia and airline announcements, for the 2026/27 season. It is an estimate: it shows the order of magnitude, not a list of flights to book.

• Palma airport: about 47 destinations abroad, 18 of them in Germany and 8 in Britain.
• Menorca airport: one destination, London Gatwick.

The difference is not one of degree: in winter, Palma has direct flights to 12 countries, Menorca to one. Flights within Spain are not in this count, so a change at another Spanish airport does not show in it. Airline announcement.

Sea and beaches: nearly the same

By the median of our places, the sea off Mallorca is warmer every month, but by no more than 0.4 °C. It is 20 °C or warmer for 5–6 months off Mallorca and 5 off Menorca. These are 2015–2024 averages from satellite data. In the bathing water register, 77 of Mallorca's 113 points were excellent last season, against 24 of Menorca's 30.

Beach by beach, see our piece on Mallorca's beaches; the sea month by month around all the islands is in our piece on where the Balearic Islands are.

Seven places side by side

Further

All our places on the islands are on the coast pages for Mallorca and Menorca. January at every place in our base is in the winter openness dataset; rent in the rent dataset; homes without a resident in the empty homes dataset; communities in residents by nationality.

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