Great news for those living in Mallorca – as of the 1st of January 2023, there is now free public transport for Mallorca residents.

Find out everything you need to know in this handy guide to free public transport for residents in Mallorca.

Free public transport for Mallorca Residents – what this includes and excludes?

To confirm, free public transport will be not only for Mallorca residents but also residents in Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera, who present either a Palma Citizen card for a EMT buses in Palma or a TIB Intermodal Card when travelling on public transport in either Palma or island-wide.

This means that Balearic island residents will no longer have to pay to use the EMT Palma buses, the TIB buses or the trains.

This free public transport offer excludes the Soller train and Port de Soller tram network which is privately owned.

The free public transport also includes taking the A1 EMT from Palma city to Palma airport which would otherwise cost 5€ one way, so being able to travel for free to and from the airport is a great cost saving!

How to travel free on the EMT Palma Buses

To travel for free on the EMT bus, you must be a resident in Mallorca or the Balearic Islands and have a valid Palma Citizen Card or Intermodal card.

If like me, you have a Citizen Card but have never really used it until now, check it is still valid here.

I’ve just seen mine is out of date so I’ll have to return to the Town Hall to get it renewed, or just get an Intermodal card.

If you are not resident in Palma, you can use your Intermodal card for the EMT buses in Palma too.

Unlike the Palma citizen card, the Intermodal card never expires.

What do you need to get a Palma Citizen Card?

You will need to present your Passport and ID card (so NIF, NIE or TIE). You can find out more information here on the EMT website which shows the documents you need.

Take the original and a photocopy.

If you are a foreign resident, I would recommend taking your passport too along with your NIE or TIE card. Make sure the identity document clearly shows your current address in Mallorca or the Balearic Islands.

The website does say just to bring one ID, but I would also recommend taking a passport. Over the years I’ve often made wasted trips for not taking my passport to accompany a foreign card.

The Palma citizen card can then be issued in your local Palma town hall.

How to travel free on the TIB Mallorca Buses and Trains

UPDATED from JUNE 2023: To get free public transport, you will need to get an Intermodal card from ANY of these offices around Mallorca. You will need to book an appointment or cita previa, which you can do here.

The information on the website hasn’t been updated to reflect free public transport for Mallorca residents but you can see which offices can provide the card.

Take your DNI, passport, driving licence or NIE or TIE card. On the website they state that you could take a photocopy of this document, however, I presented my TIE card and didn’t ask for a photocopy of this.

You also do not need to take a photo with you, and they will take a photo for your card using a digital camera.

If you want to get an Intermodal card for your children as Mallorca residents, they will have to go along with you.

You will need to also take along an empadronamiento certificate (to confirm you are resident in Mallorca). Just note that if you have a bank account with La Caixa bank, you can get the certificate at the cash point without having to go to the town hall.

Otherwise, you can get these certificates from the town hall in which you are registered, and they normally cost a couple of euros.

How to activate your FREE Intermodal TIB bus card

When first using the TIB buses, you need to pay 5€ for your first trip.

Pay this in cash to the driver. This will then activate your card to allow free use on all of the buses and trains all over Mallorca.

How to use your Free TIB Intermodal residents bus card and Palma Citizen Card

When getting onto a TIB red or yellow bus or train, you must tap in and then tap out on the card reader when you leave the bus.

On the EMT blue and white Palma buses, you only tap once when entering the bus and there is no need to tap out.

taking the bus mallorca
Free Public Transport for Mallorca Residents – the TIB bus

How much does public transport in Mallorca cost if I’m not legible?

Public transport is very cheap for visitors to Mallorca.

In fact, you can read more about taking the island-wide TIB buses here, but you will find that journeys can cost as little as 1,80€ and even less if you are travelling with a group.

To travel on the Palma EMT public buses, fares cost from 2€ per journey. You can see the cost of the fares here.

If you plan on making many journeys on the Palma EMT buses then you can pick up a pre-paid card for 15€ which allows 10 journeys (so this would cost 1,50€ each).

You can purchase these prepaid cards from the kiosks listed here.

To find out more about taking the EMT bus, check out this article here.

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