Essential Spanish phrases

Registration on the municipal roll at the Ajuntament de Palma. It unlocks the health card and your TIE — and in the Balearics it is also what proves entitlement to the 75% resident travel discount.

The prior appointment required for almost every government office. Getting one is the hard part, not the appointment.

The foreigner identity number and the physical card carrying it. The number comes first; nothing downstream works without it.

The 75% discount registered Balearic residents get on flights and ferries to the peninsula and between the islands. Verified against the padrón, and worth thousands a year to a household that travels.

Estada turística en habitatge — the tourist-letting licence. New places in multi-family buildings are frozen archipelago-wide, and Palma has barred them in flats since 2018.

A traditional Mallorcan country estate. Many are now hotels or private houses, and the ones on rustic land are the properties where the old military-authorisation rule for non-EU buyers can still bite.

Catalan is co-official alongside Castilian, and the Mallorcan variety is what you hear in the street. Public schooling is largely in Catalan, which is a real decision for a family arriving with children.

The coiled lard pastry that is Mallorca's own, with a protected designation. Bought in a hexagonal box and carried onto the plane by half the departure lounge.

The north wind, and the UNESCO-listed mountain range along the island's north-west coast that shares its name. Both shape the weather in Palma more than the map suggests.

An outsider — historically a mainland Spaniard rather than a foreigner. Usually neutral, occasionally not, and it tells you something true about how the island sees arrivals.

The single European emergency number for police, fire and ambulance. Free from any phone, with English and German usually available here.