The 10 apps you actually need in Mallorca

An island rearranges the list. On the mainland you'd want transport and admin. Here you want admin, the time of the last bus home, and some way of knowing whether the boat is running.

One correction first, because it comes up every single time: Bizum is not something you download. It sits inside your Spanish bank's app and you turn it on there. Nobody tells newcomers this and everybody spends twenty minutes looking for it.

So: ten real downloads. None cost anything, all work on either phone, and a few sit idle until your NIE turns up.

Cl@ve — one registration, every government site

One registration, and Hacienda, Seguridad Social and SEPE all stop asking for a certificate tied to a single laptop — which is the arrangement that strands you the moment you leave the island with a problem outstanding.

Budget a morning to set it up in person. That's the whole price, paid once.

Cita Previa CAIB — books the appointment you can't get by phone

The paperwork is rarely the hard part out here. Getting a slot to hand it over is. This is the Balearic government's own booking app and it covers most of the regional offices.

Two things nobody signposts. Cancellations tend to appear in the morning, so check then instead of refreshing all afternoon. And your NIE appointment isn't in here — that one is booked through the national police, on a completely separate system.

While we're at it: never pay a website to find you a cita. They're reselling free slots, when they're doing anything at all.

EspaiSalut — IB-Salut in your pocket

The health service's own app for the islands. Appointments, prescriptions, your record. It landed in 2026 and replaced something a good deal worse.

You need a targeta sanitària first, which means registering at your local centre de salut. Free, quick, and the errand everyone leaves until they're already ill.

Moovit — the only readable version of the island timetable

TIB — the island-wide bus and train network — decides how much of Mallorca you'll actually see if you don't drive. Its timetables live on tib.org, and Moovit is the least painful way to carry them.

The number that matters isn't the next bus, it's the last one back. Some rural lines run four times a day and fewer in winter, so check the return before you commit to the outbound, and check it on tib.org if the whole day hangs on one connection. Seasonal changes are real and Moovit doesn't always have them first.

EMT Palma — the city buses

If you're living in Palma you'll open this weekly, and only ever for one question: is the 3 actually coming, or should I walk?

Live arrivals, nearest stops, and that's about it. Past the city boundary you're back on TIB.

mobiAPParc — pays the Palma parking meter

Palma council's parking app. Pay for an ORA space from wherever you're sitting and — the bit that earns it a place here — extend the ticket without going back to the car.

It looks exactly like a municipal app. It will still save you more in tickets you didn't get than anything else on this list.

Baleària — the ferry off the island

Ibiza or Menorca for a weekend, or the car over to Dénia, Valencia or Barcelona. Once a vehicle's involved the boat beats flying on both money and hassle.

August sells out weeks ahead on the popular crossings, so book early or don't bother. And winter cancellations for weather are just part of living here rather than a scandal.

Trasmed and Armas run overlapping routes if the timings don't suit.

idealista — the year-round market versus the summer one

Spain's biggest portal, but on Mallorca it's doing something more useful than volume: it shows you the gap between flats let to residents and flats let to tourists.

Long lets are properly scarce, especially around Palma and on the west coast, so set alerts and expect to move fast.

Then watch for the winter let — a lovely price on a lovely place, ending in April or May when the owner switches back to holiday rentals. Read the end date before you fall for the terrace. Everything else worth checking before you sign is in the scams guide.

Wallapop — what the summer workers leave behind

Seasonal turnover makes this better here than almost anywhere on the mainland. Workers leaving in October list an entire flat in one post, and by November you're buying furniture, bikes and paddleboards from people who just want them gone.

Filter by distance unless you fancy driving to Pollença for a chair. Pay in cash when you pick it up, somewhere with other people around, and stop replying to anyone who wants to post it to you.

Too Good To Go — cheap dinner in an expensive town

Bakeries and restaurants bag up what's left for €3 to €6. In Palma — the centre and Santa Catalina especially — it's a real answer to how much eating out has gone up.

Outside Palma it thins out quickly, and in winter half the participating places are shut. In season it's the cheapest good food on the island.

Leave these alone

A Bizum app. Third time. It's in your bank.

Cita previa resellers. Free slots, sold back to you.

Island guide apps. The calas will still be there in October, and better.

Boat trackers, unless you own a boat. Baleària tells you what you need to know.

The two you'll end up with regardless: Glovo, if you're in Palma, and a wind app you'll check far more often than you expect to.