Palma.

The International Relations Office and ESN Baleares run a joint welcome week for incoming students, showing you the campus and the city in your first days. ESN Baleares, the local branch of a network founded in 1989, sells the ESNcard for discounts across Europe and organises its own calendar of trips and socials throughout the year. For evenings, Santa Catalina, a former fishing quarter turned lively dining and bar district, is where most exchange students end up gathering after dark, alongside the historic streets around Sa Llotja.

• Join the SRI and ESN Baleares welcome week to meet people in your first days.
• Buy the ESNcard for discounts and a full calendar of trips and socials.
• Head to Santa Catalina after dark, the neighbourhood most exchange students gather in.

A room in a shared flat in Palma averaged about 550 euros a month in the second quarter of 2026, up 22 percent in a year and tied with Madrid as Spain's second most expensive city for shared rooms, behind only Barcelona. Day to day costs add up too: budget around 16 to 17 euros for an inexpensive restaurant meal, under 3 euros for a cappuccino, and about 37 to 40 euros a month for a standard public transport pass. Groceries stay reasonable, with a litre of milk and a loaf of bread both close to 1 euro.

• Budget about 550 euros a month for a shared room, prices are rising fast.
• Expect 16 to 17 euros for a basic restaurant meal in the city.
• Pay around 37 to 40 euros a month for a standard transport pass.

UIB's Residència Universitària, in the Bartomeu Rosselló-Pòrcel building right on the main campus, runs a programme for exchange students such as Erasmus+ and SICUE, with a short stay rate of 28.27 euros a night including breakfast for your first two weeks. The International Relations Office also shares a list of accommodation contacts for the private market, though rooms move fast and the university is upfront that Palma's rental market is tight. Never send money for a room before viewing it in person or by video call; a deposit should only change hands once a contract is signed.

• Apply to the UIB residence for single or double rooms right on campus.
• Expect Palma's rental market to move fast; start your search early.
• Never pay a deposit before viewing a room in person or by video call.

Palma's airport sits about 8 kilometres from the centre and handled over 31 million passengers in 2023, making it one of Spain's busiest. The EMT A1 bus connects it to the city centre for a 5 euro single fare, running roughly every 12 to 20 minutes from just after 6am to 2am. Around the city, Palma's one metro line has run since 2007, linking the UIB campus directly to the centre with trains about every 15 minutes, while EMT's bus network covers every neighbourhood; apply for an EMT card at their office with your passport and UIB enrolment letter.

• Take the EMT A1 bus from the airport for a flat 5 euro fare.
• Use Palma's metro to reach the UIB campus in about 15 minute intervals.
• Get an EMT card early with your passport and UIB enrolment document.

Almost all exchange students in Palma study at the Universitat de les Illes Balears, the only public university on the islands, teaching close to 15,800 students on a campus about 7.5 kilometres outside the centre. Once your home university nominates you, UIB's International Relations Office (SRI) emails you a login for the online application form and stays your main contact throughout. Courses run mainly in Spanish and Catalan, with some taught in English, and UIB runs Spanish and Catalan courses for exchange students, so some command of either helps you follow regular classes; its language service also runs dedicated Spanish and Catalan courses for exchange students.

• Wait for SRI's email login to submit your online application after nomination.
• Check your course's language track; Take UIB's Spanish or Catalan course early in the semester.
• Take a Spanish or Catalan course through UIB's language service alongside your subject.

Lo que necesitas depende totalmente de tu nacionalidad. Los estudiantes de la UE, el EEE y Suiza no necesitan visado; solo te registras para conseguir el NIE (número de identificación de extranjero) si te quedas el tiempo suficiente. Los estudiantes no comunitarios que se quedan más de 90 días generalmente necesitan un visado nacional de estudiante tramitado en un consulado español antes de llegar, y luego una tarjeta TIE de residencia una vez en España.

Empieza el proceso del visado pronto, es lento y con mucho papeleo: prueba de matrícula, de fondos, seguro médico privado y a menudo un certificado de antecedentes penales y un certificado médico. Una vez en España, reserva tu cita previa para el NIE/TIE en cuanto llegues, porque las citas vuelan en las grandes ciudades.

• UE/EEE/Suiza: sin visado, solo hay que registrarse para el NIE
• No comunitarios más de 90 días: visado de estudiante antes de llegar
• Consigue tu tarjeta TIE en los 30 días siguientes a tu llegada
• Reserva la cita previa inmediatamente

Mallorcan food centres on ensaimada, a spiral pastry made with pork lard rather than butter and best eaten plain with hot chocolate, and sobrassada de porc negre, a soft cured sausage spread straight onto bread. Pa amb oli, toasted bread rubbed with ripe tomato and olive oil, and tumbet, a layered vegetable casserole, both show up on most local menus. Shop for fresh produce at the Mercat de l'Olivar or the Mercat de Santa Catalina, but go before early afternoon: most bakeries close around 2:30pm, while restaurants only really fill up after 8:30pm for dinner.

• Try ensaimada plain with hot chocolate, the classic Mallorcan breakfast pastry.
• Spread sobrassada de porc negre on bread for a proper local taste.
• Shop at Mercat de l'Olivar or Mercat de Santa Catalina before early afternoon.

Santa Catalina, once a working fishing quarter just west of the old town, is now Palma's trendiest area for eating and going out, packed with bars and its own produce market. Sa Llotja and the surrounding Casc Antic, the old town centred on the 15th century Llotja merchants' hall, keep the city's densest concentration of historic streets, bars and late night terraces. Pere Garau, a more residential, working class district built up from 1910 around its own former textile factory, offers a calmer, cheaper base a short walk or metro ride from the centre.

• Go to Santa Catalina for the busiest bar and food scene in Palma.
• Wander Sa Llotja and the Casc Antic for the city's historic old town.
• Consider Pere Garau for a calmer, more affordable base near the centre.

Ibiza is the easiest island getaway, a direct ferry from Palma's own port taking about two hours and fifteen minutes, with tickets from around 24 euros. Overnight ferries also reach mainland Spain, with Barcelona seven to eight and a half hours away from about 13 euros, and Valencia around seven and a half hours away, both sailing several times a week. Closer to home, the 1912 Tren de Sóller crosses the Serra de Tramuntana mountains from Palma to Sóller in about an hour, with a historic tram continuing on to the port for an easy half day trip.

• Take a two hour ferry to Ibiza, with tickets from about 24 euros.
• Sail overnight to Barcelona or Valencia, both around seven to eight hours away.
• Ride the 1912 Tren de Sóller for an easy half day in the mountains.

Contact the International Relations Office (SRI) as soon as you land to confirm your arrival, meet your mobility coordinator and get your student ID and insurance sorted at Banco Santander. Apply for your EMT bus card in your first days rather than paying per ride, since it only needs a passport copy and your UIB enrolment letter. Start looking for housing as early as possible, since Palma's rental market is small and moves fast, especially before the autumn intake. The rookie mistake is treating Palma as only a beach and party island; the old town, inland villages and the Tramuntana mountains reward the extra effort.

• Contact the SRI the moment you arrive to sort your ID and insurance.
• Get your EMT bus card in week one instead of paying per ride.
• Look beyond the beach: the old town and inland Mallorca are worth it.