Officials on Spain’s Balearic Islands want to ban non-residents from buying property as soaring prices in Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza drive local people out and create ‘ghost villages’ of empty homes. 

Such a move could make it impossible for foreigners to buy a holiday home on one of these popular islands. It follows a similar scheme in Canada, which introduced a two-yeaer ban on property purchases by non-residents, with exceptions made for immigrants and legal residents. 

Juan Pedro Yllanes, the Balearic vice-president, has said “we should follow Canada’s example” and asked the Spanish government to put pressure on the EU to allow the islands to impose a similar ban.

Yllanes acknowledged a ban would conflict with the European principle of free movement. However, there are precedents, in the Austrian Alps for example, where the EU has recognised areas of cultural significance or natural beauty that should be protected from “excessive outside pressure”.

Another precedent is the Aland Islands in Finland, where there are limits on buying second homes. In Croatia, EU citizens must be residents for 10 years before they can buy agricultural land.

The village of Deià in western Mallorca has been a favourite among the British since the late 1920s. At €6,091sqm (£5,405), property in Deià is the second most expensive in Spain.