Private service guides · Mallorca
Closing a house in Mallorca before winter
What you do in the last week of October decides whether the house opens in two days or in three weeks.
October is not the end of the season. It is the start of winter.
A house closed properly in October is a house that opens in two days in March. One closed badly needs three weeks, a painter and an awkward conversation with the insurer. The difference is not budget: it is what was done during the last week of occupancy.
Damp is the problem, not cold
Winter on the island does not freeze: it dampens. With the house shut and unventilated, damp settles into wardrobes, mattresses, upholstery and books. You fight it before leaving — textiles removed or protected, wardrobes left ajar, dehumidifiers where needed — and with ventilation visits through the winter. It is not an expense: it is what saves you reupholstering in spring.
Water: what bursts when nobody is there
Most claims on a second home involve water, and almost all of them happen with the house empty. Mains off, outside taps drained, boiler and water heater checked before you go, and someone who can be inside within the hour if an alarm goes off. A leak found after six weeks is not a leak: it is building work.
The garden and the pool do not stop
The garden grows just the same in January, and an untreated pool goes from green to unrecoverable within weeks. The usual mistake is cutting maintenance to zero in November and resuming it in May. It costs more: restoring a garden left for one winter costs more than maintaining it all winter.
Staff: hiring in March is already late
Anyone who lets their housekeeper go in October without a commitment for the following season will be competing in March against every house on the island for the same people. Good staff are not available in spring. They are retained in autumn, and there are ways to do it without carrying a full payroll for twelve months.
The inventory, before you lock the door
Tableware, glassware, linen, artwork, wine, electronics. A photographic inventory on closing day solves three things: you know what is missing when you return, you have evidence for the insurer, and you avoid the conversation about whether something was already like that. It takes an afternoon and lasts for years.
Who goes into the house while you are away
Technicians, gardener, pool company, alarm, couriers. With the house empty, every entry is a decision about trust. It is worth setting down in writing who may enter, with which key, notifying whom, and leaving a record of each visit. That is not distrust: it is what lets you know what happened when something has moved.
The last-week checklist
Mains off and outside taps drained · Boiler and air conditioning serviced · Textiles removed or protected · Dehumidification arranged · Fridge emptied and unplugged · Blinds and awnings retracted · Alarm tested with the monitoring centre · Emergency contacts given to the local manager · Photographic inventory · Winter visit schedule agreed.