Mallorca on a Budget: The "Supermarket Tourist" Way to Do It
Holidays getting pricier? Here's how to genuinely enjoy Mallorca on a budget, self-catering, markets, and smart spending, without missing what makes the island worth visiting.
TRAVEL BLOG
8/13/20264 min read
Mallorca on a Budget: How the "Supermarket Tourist" Actually Does It
There's a name doing the rounds in the travel press right now for a particular kind of visitor: the "supermarket tourist." It's exactly what it sounds like, someone who still books the flight, still gets the sea view, but does their shopping at Mercadona instead of eating out three times a day. I'll be honest, it's not a new idea to anyone who's lived here a while, self-catering has always been the sensible move if you want your money to stretch. It's just got a catchy name attached to it now, because a lot more people are doing it.
If restaurant prices have crept up faster than your budget has, here's how to actually make that work, without turning your trip into a diet of sad sandwiches.
Why this is happening now
Simple version: holidays generally have got more expensive, and people are choosing where to cut back rather than cutting the trip entirely. Rather than skipping Mallorca, more visitors are keeping the flights and the accommodation, the parts that make it feel like a proper holiday, and trimming the daily food spend instead. Self-catering accommodation with a real kitchen has become the enabler here, if you've got somewhere to cook, you've got options a hotel room doesn't give you.
It's not really about avoiding restaurants altogether. Most people doing this are just being more selective, cooking most nights and picking one or two meals out that actually feel worth paying for.
Book somewhere with a proper kitchen
This is the single biggest lever. An apartment or villa with a real kitchen, not just a kettle and a microwave, changes what's possible completely. You don't need anything fancy, a hob, a fridge and some basic pans covers most of what you'll want to cook on holiday.
If you're weighing up whether you'll actually need a car to get to a supermarket and back, our guide on whether you need a car in Mallorca is worth a read before you book.
Shop like you live here, not like you're on holiday
Mercadona, Lidl and Eroski are the big supermarket names you'll see everywhere, and prices are genuinely lower than a lot of visitors expect coming from the UK or northern Europe. A weekly shop for a family here costs a fraction of eating out for the same week.
Local markets are worth the trip, not just for atmosphere. Fresh produce, cheese, and cured meats are often better quality and similar in price to the supermarket. Our guide to the best markets in Mallorca covers which days and towns are worth building a morning around.
Buy what's actually local. Mallorcan tomatoes, local cheese, a bottle of decent island wine, these cost roughly the same as importing something familiar from home, but taste better and feel more like an actual holiday than a compromise.
Still eat out, just be selective about it
Cutting your food budget doesn't mean skipping restaurants entirely, and honestly, some of the best food experiences here don't need a big spend. Pick one or two meals out that genuinely matter, rather than defaulting to a restaurant every night out of habit. Our locals' guide to where to eat in Mallorca has recommendations across price points, it's not all fine dining.
A tip from actual experience: lunch menus (menú del día) at local restaurants, not the tourist-facing ones on the main strip, are often excellent value, a full meal with a drink for a fraction of what the same three courses cost at dinner. Worth building a day around if you want one proper restaurant meal without the full price tag.
The one rule that catches self-caterers out
If you're stocking up on cheap supermarket alcohol to enjoy back at your apartment, know the rules before you assume you can drink it wherever you like. The Balearic Islands have a strict public drinking ban with fines up to €1,500 in tourist hotspots like Magaluf, Playa de Palma and Llucmajor, a bargain bottle from the supermarket doesn't change where you're allowed to actually drink it. Our full guide to Mallorca's drinking age and public drinking laws covers exactly where the lines are.
Where the real savings are, and where they're not
Being honest about what actually moves the needle:
Big saver: cooking most breakfasts and several dinners yourself.
Big saver: travelling in shoulder season (May, June, September, October) rather than peak July/August, when accommodation prices climb regardless of how you eat.
Not really a saver: skipping paid activities entirely. A lot of what makes Mallorca worth visiting, beaches, hiking, markets, old town wandering, costs nothing at all. Save your spend for the one or two things you actually want to do, a boat trip, a proper dinner, an aquarium visit, rather than spreading it thin everywhere.
It's not a lesser version of the trip
Doing Mallorca this way isn't a downgrade, cooking with produce from the local market and eating dinner on a balcony you paid a fraction of a hotel room for is, if anything, a more honest version of how people actually live here. Save the restaurant budget for the meals that'll actually stick in your memory, and let the rest of the trip run on a supermarket bag and a decent view.
Looking for more Mallorca tips?
Check out these posts you’ll love:
Happy holidays and ¡nos vemos en la isla! 🌞
Get in touch
© 2025 ExplorePalmaDeMallorca.com. All rights reserved.
This site contains affiliate links. I may earn a small commission if you book through them, at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting the site!