Offices of the Balearic Government's Ibavi housing agency. | Photo: Jaume Morey
Andrew EdeNekane DomblásPalma14/10/2026 08:45
The EU's commissioner for internal affairs and migration, Magnus Brunner, has issued a stern warning regarding the imposition of residency restrictions on public housing access in the Balearics.
Brunner says that member states cannot unilaterally impose a residency requirement longer than the five-year period established by a European directive. Unless "justified and proportionate", such a rule may be considered discriminatory if it disadvantages citizens of other member states or third countries compared to nationals of the host country.
He notes that long-term EU residents are guaranteed equal treatment with national citizens regarding social security benefits, social assistance, social protection, and procedures for accessing housing. In this context, he points out that the Court of Justice of the European Union has clarified that member states cannot unilaterally impose a residency requirement exceeding the five-year period set by a European directive.
This rule prohibits discrimination based on racial or ethnic origin. The principle of non-discrimination forbids not only direct discrimination based on nationality "but also any indirect discrimination that, through the application of other differentiating criteria, leads in practice to the same result".
While Balearic law sets a five-year residency limit, the warning potentially complicates the position of several municipalities in the Balearics that require more than five years of residency as a priority criterion for accessing public housing.
To qualify for priority access to public housing developments in Soller and Santa Maria, applicants must prove 18 years of residency. Arta and Sa Pobla require 15 years; Pollensa, Maria de la Salut, Ibiza and Sencelles require ten; Inca eight; and Esporles and Calvia seven.
The Balearic Government believes the EU's warning need not affect the more restrictive criteria municipalities have applied to date. It clarifies that these municipal limits are not exclusionary requirements but rather priority criteria for assistance.
The government notes that municipalities themselves requested these periods, responding to specific local circumstances and the current context of a "housing emergency", a status also legally declared in the Balearic Islands. It insists that the measure is "proportionate given the specific circumstances" faced by residents of the islands.