How are non-resident vehicles identified through license plates in Mallorca?

In Mallorca, non-resident vehicles are easily identified through their license plates primarily by their regional designation. Spanish vehicle registration plates traditionally display a numeric code linked to the province where the vehicle was registered. Since Mallorca belongs to the Balearic Islands, local vehicles bear plates that start with the provincial code for Palma de Mallorca, commonly “PM” or “IB” for the Balearic Islands. In contrast, vehicles registered outside the Balearic Islands have license plates reflecting their home provinces on the Spanish mainland or other regions, making it straightforward to distinguish non-resident cars.

These non-resident vehicles often display combinations of numbers and letters corresponding to their original registration location, which is different from the Balearic Islands’ codes. For travelers or officials, this regional coding system works as a clear identifier without any need for special stickers or tags indicating non-residency status. Since the license plate system in Spain has been modernized since 2000, all new plates use a uniform European format including a blue strip with the EU flag and a country code “E” for Spain, but the regional identifier remains present in older plates or can often be inferred from the letter/number sequence.

This method of identification is practical for local authorities and service providers in Mallorca, enabling them to recognize non-resident vehicles easily, which is particularly important for managing tourism-related traffic or applying specific regulations like tolls or parking rules. Visitors driving rental or personal cars registered outside the Balearic Islands will typically have license plates showing their mainland regions, helping differentiate them from local residents and streamlining both administrative processes and traffic management.