Study in Palma de Mallorca, Spain

About Palma de Mallorca

Palma is the capital of the Balearic Islands and the largest city on Mallorca, with 434,786 registered residents on 1 January 2025, according to the municipal population figures of Spain's National Statistics Institute (INE). It is a Mediterranean port city with an international airport; the UIB gives flight times of about 2 hours 30 minutes to London and 1 hour 45 minutes to Paris.

The islands have two official languages, Catalan and Spanish. Students come to Palma for the public university of the Balearic Islands, for tourism and hospitality studies in one of the main tourist regions of the Mediterranean, and for the performing arts. The city also has a British international school for families who move to Mallorca.

Studying in Palma

Our directory lists 5 active schools in Palma: two university-level centres, one centre for tourism and professional studies, one language school and one international school.

• Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB) is the public university of the islands, with about 18,200 students according to the university. It has three main sites, in Palma, Menorca and Ibiza and Formentera. In Mallorca, the main campus covers almost 100 hectares on the Carretera de Valldemossa, about 15 minutes by car from the city centre, and the Sa Riera building in the centre hosts cultural activities. The campus has libraries, sports facilities and a residence.
• Centro de Educación Superior Felipe Moreno - Nebrija, previously known as the Escuela de Turismo de Baleares (ETB), is in Calle Sol in the centre of Palma and has trained professionals in the islands for more than 60 years. It teaches official bachelor's degrees (grados) in tourism, marketing, psychology, criminology, digital design and events and protocol, and vocational training (FP) such as the higher cycles in marketing and advertising and in travel agencies and event management.
• ESADIB - Escola Superior d'Art Dramàtic de les Illes Balears was founded in 2006 as a higher-education centre for teaching and research in the performing arts. It offers higher studies in dramatic art with a specialisation in acting, and admission is by entrance exam.
• Baleares International School (Baleares International College) offers a British education for children aged 3 to 18. Its primary school in Sant Agustí, on the outskirts of Palma, was founded in 1957 and teaches Catalan from Year 2.
• masbla has taught English in Mallorca for more than 40 years and has offered online classes since 2019, with preparation for Cambridge exams from A2 to C2.

Cost of living for students

Housing is the main cost in Palma. The CES Felipe Moreno - Nebrija helps students from outside Mallorca find a place to live: it has agreements with youth hostels for a temporary stay while students look for housing, and it lists a hostel in the Santa Catalina district, a 15-minute walk from the school, at €480 a month or €120 a week. It also keeps a list of platforms and agencies for shared flats, whole flats and student residences. The UIB campus has its own residence.

For public transport on Mallorca, the transport consortium (CTM) recommends the Tarjeta Única to residents as the cheapest and most convenient ticket, and payment by bank card to visitors. We have not found a current official student fare for Palma's city buses, so we give no figure.

Students from outside the EU, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein need a student visa for the length of their programme. The CES Felipe Moreno - Nebrija advises starting the process at least two months before the course begins, and students staying more than six months must apply for their student card (TIE) within one month of arrival in Spain.

Getting around and daily life

The UIB campus is well connected to the city. Metro line M1 links the campus with the city centre, city bus line 19 reaches the campus from many parts of Palma, and a cycle lane of almost 5 km connects Palma and the campus. Mallorca's train lines from Inca, sa Pobla, Manacor and Sóller arrive at Plaça d'Espanya in Palma. From the airport, the city bus line A1 runs to the centre of Palma.

Palma has a mild Mediterranean climate. At AEMET's Palma Puerto station (normals for 1981-2010), the average temperature is 11.9 °C in January and 25.7 °C in July, when average daily highs reach 29.4 °C, with about 449 mm of rain a year.

Frequently asked questions

Which universities are in Palma?

The Universitat de les Illes Balears (UIB) is the public university of the islands, with its main campus on the Carretera de Valldemossa. The CES Felipe Moreno - Nebrija also teaches official bachelor's degrees in the city centre, and ESADIB offers higher studies in dramatic art.

Is Catalan needed to study in Palma?

Catalan and Spanish are both official languages in the Balearic Islands, so it is worth checking the language of instruction of each course before applying.

How do students get to the UIB campus?

By metro line M1 from the city centre, by city bus line 19, or by bike along a cycle lane of almost 5 km.

How much does a room in Palma cost?

There is no official average. As an example, a youth hostel listed by the CES Felipe Moreno - Nebrija for its students costs €480 a month.