Start with how you will use the home
Most buyers start with a picture: a sea view, a stone village, a city flat. A better start is a plain question about how you will live. Will you be here all year, for a few months, or for holidays? Will you work from home, commute to Palma or fly often? The answers rule out whole parts of the island before you open a single listing.
- All year: you need shops, health care and schools that stay open in January. Palma, the market towns and the Raiguer and Pla villages qualify. Many resorts go very quiet in winter.
- Part of the year: a quieter coastal village may suit you, but check what is open when you plan to be here.
- Holiday use with letting in mind: be careful. Since April 2025, a flat anywhere in the Balearics can only get a new holiday-let registration as the owner’s main home, for up to 60 days a year, and Palma now bars new holiday lets in all homes. See our guide to holiday rental licences.
Check the clock: Palma and the airport
Journey times shape daily life more than most buyers expect. These are approximate drive times outside rush hour, from our zone pages.
| Zone | Central Palma | Airport |
|---|---|---|
| Palma | Up to about 25 min | About 10–25 min |
| Southwest | About 15–35 min | About 25–40 min |
| South | About 25–55 min | About 15–45 min |
| Central: Raiguer | About 20–50 min | About 20–55 min |
| Central: Pla | About 30–50 min | About 25–55 min |
| West & Tramuntana | About 20–65 min | About 25–70 min |
| Southeast | About 40–70 min | About 30–65 min |
| North | About 40–70 min | About 45–75 min |
| East | About 50–75 min | About 40–65 min |
| Northeast | About 65–90 min | About 55–85 min |
Schools and health care
Every town has state schools, but international schools are concentrated. Most British-curriculum schools are on Palma’s western side and in Calvià, with The Academy in Marratxí. Outside that cluster, there is an international school in Crestatx, near sa Pobla, and the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor includes an international school for ages 10 to 18. From the Southeast and the far Northeast, the school run to any of them is long.
Son Espases in Palma is the main public hospital for the islands. The North is served by the public hospital in Inca, while the East, Northeast and Southeast look to the hospital in Manacor. From the far ends of those zones, the nearest public hospital can be 40 to 45 minutes away, so check the health centre with urgent care nearest to you too.
Sea or inland
- Sandy beaches: the two great bays of the North, Es Trenc and the coves of the Southeast, and the bays at Cala Millor and Sa Coma in the Northeast.
- Boats: marinas in Palma and the Southwest, and harbours such as Portocolom, Porto Cristo, Port de Pollença and Port d’Alcúdia.
- Mountains and walking: the Tramuntana, with the GR 221 and old paths, though the coast there is mostly pebble coves.
- Inland life: the Raiguer and Pla, with vineyards, almond groves, trains to Palma and beaches 10 to 35 minutes’ drive away.
Inland homes often give you more space and a quieter winter. Coastal homes give you the sea, along with summer crowds and, in many resorts, a sleepy off-season.
What kind of home
Each zone has its typical stock, and matching it to what you want saves a lot of viewings.
- City flat: Palma, from old-town palaces to new blocks in Nou Llevant.
- Villa with sea views: the Southwest and the cliff coast of the South.
- Stone village house: the Tramuntana villages and the old centres of the Raiguer and Pla towns.
- Country house (finca): the Pla, the Raiguer foothills and the countryside of the East and Southeast. Read buying a finca first, because building on rustic land is tightly limited.
- Holiday flat near the sand: the resorts of the North, Northeast and Southeast.
The checklist
Use
All year, part of the year or holidays? Rule out zones that close down when you plan to be here.
Travel
Note your maximum time to Palma and to the airport, and cross off zones beyond it.
Schools
If you need an international school, map the daily school run.
Health
Check the nearest health centre with urgent care and the nearest hospital.
Setting
Choose sea, mountains or countryside, and accept what comes with each.
Home type
Match the home you want to the zones where that stock exists.
Visit twice
See your shortlist in summer and in winter before you commit.
Once you have one or two zones, our area pages go down to individual towns and barris, and the buying process explains what happens next.
Areas in this post
Palma · Southwest · West & Tramuntana · North · Northeast · East · Southeast · South · Central: Raiguer · Central: Pla
Sources
Facts in this post were checked in October 2026 against these sources.
- boe.es/buscar/doc.php?id=BOE-A-2025-14462 Decree-law 4/2025 of 11 April, in force 16 April 2025: no new holiday-let registrations for flats in blocks except the owner’s main home for up to 60 days a year
- en.arabalears.cat/politics/palma-definitively-prohibits-the-creation-o Palma’s final approval on 28 May 2026 of the ban on new tourist-rental places
- nabss.org/schools British international schools in Mallorca, including Bellver in Palma, schools in Calvià and MYSCHOOL in Crestatx, sa Pobla
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafa_Nadal_Academy Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor includes an international school for 10- to 18-year-olds
- es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_Universitario_Son_Espases Son Espases is the reference hospital for the Balearic Islands
- ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospital_Comarcal_d%27Inca Public hospital in Inca serving the north of the island
- extranet.hmanacor.org/benvinguda/presentacio Hospital de Manacor, the public hospital for the east of the island
- router.project-osrm.org Approximate drive times by zone, as used and rechecked in our zone guides (OpenStreetMap routing, October 2026); Southwest times match the Southwest zone guide (15 to 35 min to central Palma, about 25 to 40 min to the airport)
