Car hire in Mallorca

Not in Palma. Es Princep and Can Cera are in the old town, where the cathedral, the markets and dinner are all on foot. EMT's A1 bus runs from the airport to the centre for €5, and a taxi to Es Princep is about €20 by day. Sóller is the other base that works without one: L'Avenida is five minutes' walk from the station, the wooden train reaches Palma in an hour, the tram runs to the port and TIB's 204 bus goes to Palma.

Everywhere else, a car is what opens the island. TIB's buses run from Palma to Deià, Estellencs and Port de Pollença, and the 203 and 202 stop at or near the doors of Belmond La Residencia and Maristel, but the airport lines go to Peguera, Alcúdia, Cala Millor and Campos, not to any of our villages. Three of our ten need a car: Castell Son Claret, inland in a corner where public transport is limited; Cap Vermell, 71 minutes from the airport at the far east; and Can Ferrereta, where every cove is a drive.

For the odd trip, taxis run on the island's reference tariff: €2.50 flag fall and €1.20 a kilometre on weekdays from 07:00 to 21:00, a little more at night and at weekends.

Airport hires start at Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI), the island's main airport. Aena lists rental desks for Avis-Budget, Europcar, Goldcar, Hertz, OK Mobility, Record Go and Sixt on floor 0, in the arrivals hall and, for some, the baggage reclaim hall, with the cars on floors 0 to 2 of the car park. Other firms meet you with a free shuttle to a depot outside the airport. For a week in June 2027 on Expedia on 10 October 2026, 160 of the 250 offers had the desk in the terminal and 90 used a shuttle; for August, 163 and 88. Each offer says which it uses.

At the desk, the main driver needs a driving licence, a passport or ID card, the booking voucher and a payment card in their own name for the deposit. Many firms want a credit card rather than a debit card. The desk may ask to see a UK driver's licence record: a check code from gov.uk, which you can create up to 21 days before the trip, covers it for licences issued in England, Wales and Scotland.

Before you drive off, have every scratch noted on the check-out sheet, photograph the car all round, and check the car carries its V-16 beacon.

On Expedia on 10 October 2026, a week from Palma airport, collected and returned at 10:00, started at €157 with a manual gearbox and €178 with an automatic for 8 to 15 June 2027, and at €210 and €218 for 7 to 14 August 2027. Those totals include taxes and fees, basic collision damage cover with an excess and free cancellation, and most include unlimited mileage.

The excess is the part to plan for. Many firms hold a deposit on a card in the main driver's name, the European Consumer Centres explain. Goldcar's terms for Spain, updated in September 2026, block €950 on a small car against a €2,300 excess; Sixt's, taking a compact car as their example, hold the rental amount plus €300. Cover bought at the desk can cut the deposit to little or nothing and is charged by the day; excess insurance bought beforehand is often much cheaper, but the firm still blocks the deposit and the insurer usually repays you if part of it is kept.

Fuel is usually full to full, as at Goldcar and Sixt: return the tank full and keep the receipt, or pay for the missing fuel plus a refuelling charge. Extra drivers, young drivers and child seats cost extra, so add them when you book.

A UK photocard licence is valid in Spain and you do not need an international driving permit; an old paper licence may need updating to a photocard first. EU and EEA licences are valid while in force. The minimum driving age is 18, but hire firms set their own and charge young drivers extra. Carry your licence and a passport or ID card; the car's registration and inspection papers must travel with it, hire cars included.

The alcohol limit is 0.25 mg per litre of breath (0.5 g per litre of blood), and 0.15 mg for novice and professional drivers. Seatbelts are compulsory in every seat, and children under 135 cm travel in an approved child seat, as a rule in the back. Using a phone without a fully hands-free kit is banned, even when pulled over. Limits are 120 km/h on motorways, 90 on other roads, and 50, 30 or 20 in towns.

Since 1 January 2026 the DGT has required owners of Spanish-registered cars to carry a connected V-16 beacon in place of warning triangles, switched on and set on the roof from inside the car; a hire car registered in Spain falls under that rule. Drivers not resident in Spain pay or deposit a fine on the spot, with 50% off for paying at once.

From the airport, the Ma-19 runs east towards Santanyí and the Ma-13 motorway north towards Alcúdia: Can Ferrereta is 42 minutes off-peak, mostly on the Ma-19, and Four Seasons 71, the longest stretch on the Ma-13.

The Ma-10 runs 111 km along the Tramuntana from Andratx to Pollença, narrow in places, all bends and shared with cyclists: Maristel to Belmond La Residencia is 32 km and 43 minutes off-peak. The Ma-2141 leaves it for about 12 km down to Sa Calobra, 44 minutes off-peak from Fornalutx Petit Hotel; since June 2025, Consell signs show whether the car parks at Sóller, Sa Calobra and Cala Tuent are full.

From 15 May to 18 October 2026, 10:00 to 22:00, private cars pass the barrier at km 2 of the Formentor road (Ma-2210) only while the beach car park has spaces, and never reach the lighthouse; TIB's 334 bus runs from Port de Pollença. The 2027 dates have not been published.

Central Palma's low-emission zone reads number plates and checks a hire car's DGT label: B, C, ECO and zero labels enter freely to the end of 2026, and from 1 January 2027 only C, ECO and zero. The old town's restricted streets admit only authorised cars, including guests' cars registered by hotels inside; Sóller's historic centre, only zero-emission and authorised cars.

Four of our ten park the car for free: Four Seasons, Castell Son Claret and Cap Vermell on their own grounds, and Belmond La Residencia with valet parking. At Four Seasons, give the hotel your number plate before you arrive so the summer barrier lets you through. Two charge: Can Ferrereta by the day, and Es Princep, whose staff take the car at the door to an underground car park with a 1.80 m height limit.

The other four have no parking of their own. Can Cera sends drivers to the public car park on Avinguda d'Antoni Maura, eight minutes' walk. L'Avenida's guests use Sóller's town car parks, €1.30 an hour up to €9 a day from March to mid-November, which fill in summer. Maristel's guests park free in Estellencs' public car parks 100 to 200 metres away, with charging points. Fornalutx's car parks are about 200 metres from the hotel, and the village sells holidaymakers a €15 permit for its pay bays, valid for up to a month, with a note from the hotel.

Palma's blue zone costs €1.45 an hour, two hours at most. From April to October, Deià charges €4 for three hours and Cala Deià €6 for four. For the Formentor bus, the DGT's 2026 guide shows free parking on Port de Pollença's ring-road service roads.

Only with the hire firm's permission, and some never give it. Centauro's terms, dated June 2026, bar its cars from any ferry. Sixt's Spanish conditions forbid moving a car between islands unless the firm authorises it in writing. OK Mobility asks for its authorisation every time, and its cars cannot go to Formentera while that island limits traffic in summer. Goldcar sells a cross-border cover, €12 a day up to €156 a hire in 2026 (€13.20 and €171.60 from 1 June to 13 September), that allows Menorca but never Ibiza or Formentera.

Baleària asks you to confirm with the hire firm before you book a crossing; if you do not know the plate yet, the booking can say PENDIENTE until you do. Ibiza adds its own rule: from 1 June to 30 September 2026 it caps the visiting cars allowed on the island each day and requires an authorisation, which Baleària arranges for passengers on a return ticket.

For most trips the simpler answer is a second car. Ferries cross from Alcúdia to Ciutadella, on Menorca, in a little over an hour, and Alcúdia's port is 50 minutes from Palma airport off-peak and 34 from Four Seasons. Sixt, Avis, Europcar, Hertz and Enterprise have desks at Menorca airport, and eight firms at Ibiza's.