How to get your Mallorca home ready for the autumn rains

It is an October afternoon. For weeks you have heard your neighbours say «ja tocaria ploure», it's about time it rained, and at last the sky closes in over the Serra. In twenty minutes, more rain falls than in the whole of summer. And that is when you discover it: the water is not draining from the terrace gutter. It is pooling by the door and starting to find its way inside.

Anyone who has lived on the island for a while knows that autumn rain in Mallorca does not arrive gently. It arrives all at once. The storms that roll in between September and November, which everyone here calls a gota freda or DANA, can drop 20 or 30 litres per square metre in a single hour. A house that has spent five months in the sun, with leaves, dust and nests in every corner, is not always ready for that. The good news is that almost everything can be sorted with a timely check. Here is what is worth looking at.

Gutters, downpipes and the terrace nobody checks

The first enemy is the simplest one: dirt. Over the summer, gutters and downpipes fill up with pine needles, carob or olive leaves, sand blown in by the wind and, in many village houses, the odd swallow's nest. A single blockage is enough for water to overflow where it shouldn't and soak a whole façade.

Check the drains in patios and flat terraces too, so common in Palma and in renovated homes. If water lingers after you water the plants, a storm will leave a great deal more behind. And if your terrace doubles as the ceiling of another room, it is worth taking a look at the waterproofing. The small cracks that summer heat opens up in the joints are a leak's favourite way in.

The Arab-tile roof

Many village houses and fincas still have the traditional roof of curved Arab tiles. It is beautiful, it breathes and it lasts for decades, but it moves. Wind, cats and changes in temperature shift the odd tile, and one is all it takes for water to reach the timber beams.

A local roofer can go over the whole roof in a morning. It pays to call them in September or October, not later. From the first storm onwards, half the island has the same idea and diaries fill up for weeks.

Marès stone and damp

If your house is built from marès, the golden sandstone so typical of Mallorca, it helps to know that it breathes. It absorbs moisture and releases it slowly. That is why covering its walls with plastic paints or waterproof renders is not a good idea: they trap water inside and end up causing flaking and salt stains. Lime mortars and breathable paints are the right choice, as they always have been. Before winter, check that the joints are in good condition and that no drainpipe empties straight against the wall.

Cisterns, ditches and torrents, the countryside's own concerns

On a rural property, rain is also an opportunity. Many country houses still have their aljub, a cistern that collects water from the roof. Cleaning the filter and the gutter that feeds it before the first rains stops everything the roof has gathered over the summer from ending up in the tank.

Look at what happens around the house as well. Dirt tracks turn into channels, and torrents, the seasonal streams that stay dry for months, can surge with real force in a matter of minutes. On the island, people still remember what happened in Sant Llorenç des Cardassar in October 2018. If your property is close to a torrent, keep the ditches and water passages on your plot clear, and never park in the streambed, however dry it looks.

When a warning goes out

AEMET, the Spanish state weather agency, publishes rain warnings for each area of the Balearics on its website, in yellow, orange or red. When the situation calls for it, the Balearic Islands' 112 emergency service activates the Meteobal Plan and repeats a set of very practical recommendations: secure doors and windows, don't leave anything outside that water could carry away, stay out of basements and garages and, if water gets into the house, switch off the electricity.

If you spend periods away from the island, think now about who could look in on your home after a heavy storm. A trusted neighbour, the building's caretaker or a maintenance company can spot in a single visit what you might otherwise only discover months later.

Who to call

In short: a roofer for the roof, a plumber for downpipes and drains, and a builder who knows marès and lime. If you live in an apartment block, the property administrator, the administrador de fincas, coordinates checks on the communal areas, so it is worth asking whether one is planned. And review your home insurance: confirm what it covers in the event of leaks or water damage, and take a few photos of the house before winter. If you ever need to make a claim, you will be glad you did.

At Balear Invest, we stay by our clients' side after the signing too. If you have just moved in, you may find our guide on which utilities to set up and in what order useful. If you are still deciding, in What kind of home suits you in Mallorca? we explain what life is like in a Palma apartment, a village house or a finca. And if you would like some guidance, our buyers' team knows these houses well, with their tiles, their marès and their little quirks.

In Mallorca, the first autumn rain is welcomed almost like a celebration. Even better if you can listen to it from the sofa.