A month in Menorca

Article 50.13 of Ley 8/2012, the Balearic tourism law, defines a tourist stay in a home as the whole home let for days or weeks, and no stay may last more than a month. The month counts as passed after thirty nights. A 30-night booking in a registered holiday home is a tourist stay; a 31-night booking cannot be.

A longer furnished let is a seasonal lease, a lease for use other than housing under article 3.2 of the national urban leases law, and homes let through tourist channels under a tourism regime fall outside that law (article 5.e). The Balearic tourist tax follows the same split: its preamble leaves simple seasonal leases without tourist marketing outside the tax.

Maó and Ciutadella suit a month: both are towns with year-round services, and Maó adds the airport, about 6 km away, and ferries to Palma, Barcelona and Valencia. Sant Lluís suits a month in a house close to the airport. This ranking is editorial.

For weeks with a car, the two-hour blue zones in Maó and Ciutadella rule out street parking in the centres as a daily plan. Ask for a lease with a parking space, or use Ciutadella's car parks around the old town. Sant Lluís has no active blue zone, according to local press.

Deposit: the legal cash deposit for a seasonal lease is two months' rent under article 36.1 of the lease law. A holiday-home booking of up to 30 nights is not a lease, so the host's or platform's terms apply.

Tourist tax: in a holiday home the Balearic rate is EUR 2 a person a night for the first eight nights and EUR 1 from the ninth. From 1 November to 30 April the same stay costs EUR 0.50 and then EUR 0.25 a night. Under 16s pay nothing.

Car: no numeric cap on rental cars is in force in 2026, so a car rented on the island needs nothing from the driver. On 2 September 2026 the Consell voted to amend the law so it can set rental-car quotas, which press reports place from 2027, so check the rules again before booking a long stay next summer.

ID and residence: every guest over 14 signs a registration form under Real Decreto 933/2021. EU citizens staying longer than three months apply in person for registration at the provincial foreigners' office or a police station within three months of entry. Non-EU visitors may stay 90 days in any 180 in the Schengen area, and the EU Entry/Exit System has been fully operational since 10 April 2026.

Airbnb calls stays of 28 nights or more monthly stays, charging the first month up front and later months 10 days before each period. Agoda lets properties offer a long-stay promotion on bookings of more than 28 days and accepts stays of up to 90 days.

In Menorca a 28 to 30 night booking of a registered holiday home fits the Balearic limit; a longer one should come with a seasonal lease. How far platforms enforce the limit was not verified, so ask the host which contract applies.

A listing with no tourist registration number. Since July 2023 the Consell has removed 1,297 tourist places in town centres, so an old number is no guarantee; ask the host whether the licence is current.

A holiday let in a flat declared after April 2025, when new declarations for flats stopped, apart from main-home lets.

A stay of more than 30 nights booked as a holiday let, or a deposit above two months' rent on a seasonal lease.

Counting on driving to Macarella in summer: it takes buses only from 1 June to 30 September.

Miscounting Schengen days, and assuming bills are included in a lease; ask before signing.