On Mallorca a hire car earns its keep outside Palma: the Serra de Tramuntana, small coves, Cap de Formentor. As of 6 October 2026, ADAC showed a small car from the big brands from €36.13 a day (7 days from €252.90); with the local firms on Localrent you pay only 15 to 20% up front, and the deposit starts at €100 or does not exist. Trap number one: the road to Cap de Formentor is closed to private and hire cars every day from 10am to 10pm, from 15 May to 18 October 2026. Here is what to check before you pay.
The essentials before you book (as of 6 October 2026)
Here are the six points to know before you book:
- From €36.13 a day for a small car from the big brands, 7 days from €252.90 (ADAC, rental dates not stated).
- 15 to 20% advance on Localrent, the rest when you collect the keys; deposit from €100 or none at all.
- Fuel: same level as at pick-up; Euro 95 averages €1.940 a litre in Spain.
- Paved roads only: wheels, undercarriage, glass and interior are not in standard insurance.
- Cap de Formentor: 15 May to 18 October 2026, closed from 10am to 10pm to private and hire cars.
- New since 1 October 2026: you may only overtake a cyclist outside built-up areas at least 20 km/h below the limit.
Every figure comes from pages we read on 6 October 2026. Prices move daily: read them as a dated snapshot, not as an offer.
What a hire car costs in Mallorca: two readings that do not match
Localrent shows a monthly table for Palma. The page only says “car rental prices in Palma de Mallorca”: it does not say whether it is a price per day or for which class, and July (€26) is lower than June (€37) with no explanation. Read the table as an order of magnitude, not a price list.
| Month | Palma price (page table) |
|---|---|
| January | €13 |
| February | €19 |
| March | €23 |
| April | €34 |
| May | €34 |
| June | €37 |
| July | €26 |
| August | €29 |
| September | €30 |
| October | €31 |
| November | €27 |
| December | €26 |
The second reading comes from ADAC. Its car hire page showed on 6 October 2026 at 04:48 the entry prices of the firms it lists (the page names Europcar, Hertz, Enterprise, Sixt and Avis): a small car from €36.13 a day (7 days from €252.90, that is 252.90 ÷ 7 = €36.13), a compact from €38.53, an SUV from €42.12; for an SUV the gap over seven days is 294.83 − 252.90 = €41.93. No rental dates are stated, so do not read it as an offer.
Local firms or big brands: what the pages show
Localrent is not a rental firm but an aggregator of local companies: by its own account active since 2011, with more than 30,000 customers a year, often small family businesses. Under the conditions, questions about a car’s condition go to the rental firm.
| Point | Local firms via Localrent | Big brands (ADAC page) |
|---|---|---|
| Advance | 15 to 20%, balance at pick-up | Not stated on the page |
| Deposit | From €100, or cars with no mandatory deposit | According to ADAC, blocked by most firms on a credit card; amount not stated |
| Insurance | Third-party liability (TPL) included; CDW or SCDW extra on some cars (Localrent reply on the page, 2022) | “All-inclusive” package: full cover and theft, no excess |
| Cancellation | Free up to 7 days before; 24 hours with the “Free cancellation” option | According to ADAC, free until pick-up |
Can you trust the platform? On Trustpilot, Localrent stands on 6 October 2026 at 4.6 out of 5 from more than 5,300 reviews, 86% with five stars and 5% with one star; 790 arrived in the last twelve months. Recent criticism concerns insurance disputes after an accident and the condition of some vehicles, such as faulty windscreen wipers. The brand’s own score (4.8 out of 5) is a self-rating and counts for less.
To see the local firms for your dates side by side, use the comparison of local car hire firms in Mallorca; you can sort by price and filter by insurance type, deposit, gearbox and unlimited mileage.
Deposit, insurance and the fuel rule: the lines that matter
These points come from Localrent’s conditions for Spain; each car page can differ:
- Standard insurance: does not cover damage to wheels, undercarriage, windscreen and interior.
- Accident: tell the rental firm at once and get a police report, or the insurance is cancelled. It does not apply to deliberate damage or negligence.
- Tank: same level; lower and you pay the difference at the rental firm’s rate, higher and nothing is refunded.
- 24-hour minimum: Monday morning to Tuesday afternoon is billed as two full days (the conditions’ own example).
- Cancellation: free of penalty up to 7 days before the start (30 days for convertibles and luxury cars); the payment service keeps 6% of the amount paid.
- Fines, parking, tolls and fuel are yours to pay.
Cap de Formentor: closed to hire cars in summer
According to the Consell de Mallorca, the Ma-2210 road from Port de Pollença to the lighthouse is closed from 15 May to 18 October 2026, every day from 10am to 10pm, to private vehicles without authorisation. Motorbikes and lorries are also covered, and the information site palmaairport.info names hire cars explicitly.
There are two stretches. The lighthouse stretch (km 8.7 to 19.6) is closed in both directions during the restricted hours; if you go up before 10am you must be out by 9:59. The Formentor beach stretch (km 2 to 8.7) has limited access until the authorised spaces are full (300 vehicles, per palmaairport.info). The fine is €100 to €200 according to the Consell; the DGT issued around 2,300 of them in 2025, it says. ADAC quotes €80 for passing the traffic light at Port de Pollença and €200 between the beach car park and the lighthouse, halved if paid promptly.
What to do instead: TIB bus line 334 links Alcúdia and Port de Pollença with the Mirador del Colomer, Formentor beach and the lighthouse; the Consell advises paying by card. Leave the car in Port de Pollença, on the service roads of the ring road. Walkers and cyclists may pass.
📌 The dates change: in 2025 the restriction ran from 1 June to 30 October, in 2026 from 15 May to 18 October; for 2027 nothing was on the official site on 6 October 2026. If you travel in May or October, check the date before you book. The rest of the island is planned in the one-week Mallorca road trip.
Serra de Tramuntana: the Ma-10, Sa Calobra and the new rule for cyclists
The Serra de Tramuntana has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2011; the Ma-10 crosses it over 112 kilometres, from Andratx to Pollença. For remote places Localrent suggests crossovers with high ground clearance, but insists on “only paved roads”, because tracks are not insured.
Sa Calobra. A travel guide describes 14 kilometres with about 800 metres of descent, calmer early in the morning. Última Hora wrote on 26 April 2026 of queues and chaos, with “mostly rental cars” between Coll dels Reis and Sa Calobra. The car park costs, according to a travel site (July 2026), about €3 an hour and at most €15 a day; bring cash.
Cyclists. Since 1 October 2026 Royal Decree 518/2026 applies in Spain: outside built-up areas you may only overtake a cyclist while staying at least 20 km/h below the limit, so at 70 km/h at most on a road limited to 90 km/h, with 1.5 metres of side clearance. The offence is serious: €200 and 6 points. On the mountain roads, allow time rather than push.
Parking in Palma: the blue zone and the low-emission zone
In Palma the centre is a blue zone (ORA). Localrent quotes “2 to 4 euros per hour” with two hours at most; a tariff site (zona-azul.es, 2026) lists for the inner zone €1.45 an hour and €2.65 for the two-hour maximum, free on Sunday. The two sources differ: read the meter.
According to Localrent, green or orange zones are reserved for residents, yellow lines and loading zones are no-parking, and a badly parked car is towed. The centre of Palma has also been a low-emission zone since 22 December 2024: vehicles without a DGT label are excluded (fine: €200, City of Palma). Ask at pick-up whether the car carries the label.
Pick-up at Palma airport, documents and your phone number
On Localrent you choose places and dates, then a car from the list; after the advance is paid by card the voucher arrives by e-mail, to show at pick-up with your passport and licence. It fixes the price and names the rental firm.
Pick-up points. Most often Palma airport (PMI); depending on the car, also offices in Palma, Puerto Portals or the intermodal station at Plaça d’Espanya, as the car page shows. For the big brands the desks are in the arrivals hall, according to ADAC.
Documents. You need a national driving licence in Latin script, valid until the end of the rental, and a passport; copies and electronic licences are refused. If your licence is valid only in the country that issued it, Localrent recommends an international permit. The minimum age is on each car page; the German page mentions 21 for many firms and 25 for some.
Phone. Your number must be reachable during the rental and on the day before pick-up, including through Viber, WhatsApp or Telegram; otherwise Localrent does not accept complaints about service quality.
Why book early? According to Última Hora (15 September 2026), the Consell is preparing a cap on rental cars; the Aevab association expects about 20% fewer cars in the fleet. That is a plan with no date, not a law, but a reason to book early with free cancellation for summer: the offers with pick-up at Palma airport show what is free for your dates. Where the car sleeps depends on your lodging: where to stay in Mallorca.
The traps and the checklist before you pay
The European Consumer Centre Germany (EVZ, updated 3 July 2025) warns of pressure to buy extra insurance, contracts in a foreign language, signatures on a tablet with no copy and invoices for scratches after the return. With a comparison site three parties are involved, says the EVZ, which can blur who is responsible; Localrent is such an intermediary. This is what helps:
- Photos. Photograph every side, the wheels, the glass and the interior, have each damage noted on the handover form and ask for a written protocol on return.
- Fuel gauge and mileage: photograph them at pick-up.
- Bank card. Check whether your offer requires a physical embossed card in the main driver’s name.
- Extras. What is sold to you at the desk must match the voucher; if in doubt, show it.
Before paying, these lines should be right: the deposit and how it is held, wheels, undercarriage, glass and interior named in the insurance, a return time that fits the pick-up time (or an extra day is added), the minimum age and the cancellation deadline. If it all fits, you can open the offer for your dates. The overall cost of a week is worked out in the one-week Balearic Islands budget; to decide whether Mallorca is the right island, read Mallorca or Menorca.
