The sand at Cala Major may be free to everyone, but the luxury of laying on a sunbed isn’t, especially with the extortionate prices some locations are charging and that residents are calling ‘absurd’. A full day’s rental of two premium sunbeds, a parasol and a safe has reached €125, and locals say the setup was never really built with them in mind.

Two loungers, a parasol and a safe: how the €125 adds up

A premium sunbed at Cala Major beach in Palma now costs €45 on its own, so two side by side come to €90 before anything else is added. A parasol costs a further €30, and a safe for valuables takes the full package to €125 for a single day.

On most stretches of Spain’s coastline, a standard sunbed without the higher-end thicker mattresses and upgraded umbrellas can usually still be hired for €10. But for many Balearic locals, the premium price tag has become a symbol of who Mallorca’s most popular beaches are really being designed for. 

Residents say the prices are simply ‘not for Spaniards’ 

The Sant Agustí and Cala Major Residents’ Association has objected formally to the new rates, calling them excessive. It accepts that the premium loungers come with thicker mattresses and a sturdier parasol than the standard option, but says that difference does little to soften the impact on locals’ pockets.

“They are not aimed at Spanish residents,” the association said, turning what might have been a routine price rise into a wider argument about who Mallorca’s coastline is really built for now. Some residents said they are sticking to taking their own towels and cheap store-bought parasols rather than pay for a spot on a beach many feel is increasingly built around visitors with more money to spend. 

A new concession pushed the price past last year’s overcharge 

The rise has not been gradual. A comparable premium set-up on Palma’s beaches cost around €70 last year, and even that price was controversial. In September 2025, the conservation group GOB accused the previous operator at Cala Major of charging almost three times its authorised rate for a similar package.

This year is different though. Under a fresh four-year concession awarded to the operator Vigiosi SL, worth €370,000 a year, €125 is not an overcharge but the officially agreed price. A single premium lounger has risen from €30 to €45, and even the standard lounger is up from €6 in 2019 to €10 now.

Fewer loungers on a beach that keeps getting pricier

The price rise has coincided with fewer places to put a towel down in the first place. Palma’s town hall has cut the number of loungers permitted at Cala Major to 250, part of a wider reduction of roughly 1,000 across the city’s beaches. Officials say the cuts follow sand loss along the coastline, with a council spokesperson explaining that every affected beach is losing sand and needs its resting areas reorganised as a result.

For residents, the combination of shrinking capacity and rising premium prices reinforces the general consensus around overtourism and the idea that the public beaches on their own doorsteps are increasingly catering to visitors who can pay, while those on a budget are left choosing between a €10 lounger or nothing at all.