Red Palm Weevil on Mallorca: Symptoms, Pruning Season, and Reporting

Anyone with a Canary Island date palm on Mallorca knows the sight from a neighbor's plot: the crown hangs open like an umbrella that has been turned inside out, the inner fronds are gone, and eventually only a stump is left. Almost always, the cause is the red palm weevil, known on Mallorca as picudo rojo or becut vermell. Since the Balearic government declared the fight against the weevil a matter of public interest, palm owners have faced firm obligations: watch your palms, report infestations, prune only in winter, and treat every cut immediately.

At a glance

The red palm weevil has been present in the Balearics since 2007 and has wiped out entire populations of Canary Island date palms on Mallorca. Decreto 4/2016 from the Balearic government requires every owner to keep their palms healthy, report infestations, and have infected trees treated or felled. Pruning happens only in the cold months - recommended as December to February in Palma - and every cut is treated immediately with an approved product. Pruning costs 40 to 250 EUR depending on height, and preventive treatment runs 20 to 40 EUR per visit.

What the red palm weevil is and how to spot it

The red palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus) is a rust-red beetle, two to five centimeters long, native to Southeast Asia, whose larvae tunnel through the heart of palm trees. It mainly attacks the Canary Island date palm (Phoenix canariensis), less often true date palms and Washingtonia, and kills the tree once the larvae reach the growing tip.

The beetle arrived in Spain in 1995 and was first confirmed in the Balearics on Ibiza in 2007, then on Mallorca. The problem is the delay: a palm can be infested for months before you notice anything. The legless, cream-colored larvae bore tunnels up to a meter long into the trunk. As many as 300 individuals can live in a single palm, and they only move on once there is nothing left to eat there or a freshly cut neighboring palm draws them in.

Signs to watch for:

Young fronds emerging from the center look chewed, with V-shaped notches along the sides or an arrowhead-like tip.
Still-green fronds from the center of the crown droop and fall over the outer ones.
At the base of fallen fronds you find feeding tunnels, fibrous cocoons, or larvae.
On true date palms the beetle often attacks the offshoots at the base of the trunk, along with a reddish, gummy discharge on the trunk.
In the final stage the whole crown hangs down like an open umbrella. By then the palm usually cannot be saved.

The larvae can be mistaken for the white grubs of rhinoceros beetles or rose chafers, which live in rotting organic matter. But those have three pairs of legs and a dark head; red palm weevil larvae are legless with strong mandibles.

Why palms on Mallorca are only pruned in winter

This is the most important rule, and also the one most often broken. Any cut into green palm tissue releases scent compounds (kairomones), and the red palm weevil orients itself almost entirely by smell. A palm pruned in June is a beacon for every weevil in the area. That is why the Balearic government requires palms to be pruned only in the cold season, when the beetles barely fly. Palma city council's guidance names December, January, and February as the pruning window for private palms; the Consell of Formentera only allows December and January. If in doubt, check with your municipality for the exact months. The main flight season starts in March, peaking in spring and autumn.

Three more rules apply across the islands:

Remove only dry or obstructive fronds. Green fronds stay, the trunk stays untouched, because palms do not form callus tissue. Decorative "shaving" or scraping of the trunk (cepillado, perfilado) is banned.
Right after pruning, the palm's heart and the crown of fronds are treated with an approved product. In Palma it is also recommended to paint the cuts with dark green or brown spray to mask the scent.
Pruning debris is not left lying in the garden; it is treated and disposed of. How garden waste generally leaves the island is covered in the post on garden waste disposal on Mallorca.

If a palm has to be pruned in summer for safety reasons, for example because a frond threatens to fall onto a street, you need authorization from the authority and immediate treatment of the wounds. There is no such exception for routine garden pruning. What else gets pruned and when on the island is covered in the post on garden maintenance on Mallorca.

Watch out: gardeners often prune whenever it suits their schedule

Many garden services schedule palm pruning for the quiet off-season, which fits the rules well. But if someone offers in May or September to "quickly tidy up the palm," decline. You will attract the weevil, and the fine falls on the owner, not the gardener.

Prevention: treatment schedule and owner obligations

The legal basis is Decreto 4/2016 of 29 January 2016, in which the Balearic government declared the fight against the red palm weevil a matter of public interest and set out mandatory plant-protection measures. Mandatory measures for Mallorca and contact points are listed by the Balearic plant health service (Sanidad Vegetal). Violations are penalized under Spain's Ley 43/2002 de Sanidad Vegetal.

As an owner, this means:

You are required to keep your palms in good health and follow a treatment schedule with approved products.
During the flight season from March to October, you check your palms regularly - Palma recommends monthly checks.
Across Mallorca, trading or transporting palms showing symptoms is banned. Any palm with a trunk diameter over five centimeters needs a plant passport when moved. Dealers and nurseries must be registered in the ROPCIV register and document every movement of their palms.
If you bring a new palm to the island or plant one, you must report it in writing beforehand to Sanidad Vegetal using the designated form. That is why a reputable nursery will ask for your name and the tree's location when you buy one.

How often a palm needs treatment depends on the species. Palma city's palm protocol recommends at least six treatments a year for Canary Island date palms (March, May, June, July/August, September, November), and at least five for true date palms, Washingtonias, and dwarf palms. After a treatment for an active infestation, no more than 45 days should pass before the next one. Approved products include acetamiprid and phosmet as a crown spray, abamectin as a trunk injection carried out by specialist firms, and the nematode Steinernema carpocapsae as a biological alternative. Products are rotated to prevent resistance from building up.

Two common mistakes: pheromone traps in your own garden actually attract weevils from the surrounding area, and palms whose dates are meant to be eaten cannot be treated with the chemical products.

Tip: your neighbor's palm is your problem too

The beetle flies. If a palm two houses down has a drooping crown, talk to the owner or report it to the municipality yourself. The reporting duty also covers palms outside your own property, and one untreated palm nearby can undo most of the benefit of your six treatments a year. What you can do legally in a dispute over a boundary tree is covered in the guide to neighbour law on Mallorca.

Reporting an infestation: how it works with the municipality or the Conselleria

Where do I report an infested palm on Mallorca? To the Balearic government's Sección de Sanidad Vegetal (phone 669 765 440 or 647 348 894) or to your municipality. In Palma this is the Servicio de Parques y Jardines at picudorojo@palma.es, phone 971 225 931. A photo of the crown and the address are enough for the first contact.

The process from there is similar across the island:

Report the suspicion

Send a photo and location to Sanidad Vegetal or your municipality. The inspection by technicians is free, and they will confirm whether it really is the red palm weevil.

Decide between treatment and removal

If the growing tip is still intact, a trained specialist can mechanically remove the infested parts (saneamiento mecánico), which often works well on Canary Island date palms. If the heart is destroyed, the palm is felled.

Act within 7 days

Palma requires an infested palm to be treated or removed within seven days of detection. Every extra day means more beetles flying out.

Register the disposal

In Palma, you report the date and time of the work at least 48 hours in advance by email to picudorojo@palma.es. You then receive a letter that lets the hauler drop off the debris free of charge at the TIRME incineration plant.

Transport the debris correctly

Cut the trunk into pieces under 50 cm and quarter them, and carry everything in a closed or covered vehicle. Only infested parts (crown, fronds, trunk sections with tunnels) are accepted.

Treatment and removal may only be carried out by qualified professionals; Sanidad Vegetal keeps a list of approved plant-protection firms. Anyone who dismantles an infested palm themselves and stacks the debris behind the house risks a fine and spreads the larvae through the neighborhood. Approved disposal routes are incineration, burial at least one meter deep, wrapping in solid plastic sheeting after insecticide treatment, or shredding.

What treatment, pruning, and removal cost

The prices below come from published 2025 rate cards from garden companies in Palma and from the Palma protocol. They vary with height, access, and the number of palms, so get two quotes.

Posten	Kosten	Dauer
Pruning, palm up to 3 m	40 to 70 EUR	per palm, once in winter
Pruning, palm 3 to 7 m	70 to 120 EUR	per palm, once in winter
Pruning, palm over 7 m (crane or climber)	130 to 250 EUR	per palm, once in winter
Preventive treatment	20 to 40 EUR	per palm and visit, 5 to 6 visits a year
Full treatment plan, Canary Island date palm	120 to 240 EUR	per palm and year

Felling with proper disposal cannot be quoted as a flat rate, because height, crane access, and site access all drive the price. Expect noticeably more than for a pruning job, and specifically ask whether transport to TIRME and cutting the trunk into pieces are included. The incineration fee itself is waived in Palma once you have the city's letter.

The treatment plan is the cheapest item in this whole picture, and a mature Canary Island date palm cannot simply be replaced. If you are renting a finca, clarify in the lease who pays for treatments. What else adds to a household's running costs is covered in the guide to running and operating costs on Mallorca. Garden companies offering palm pruning and treatment are listed in the garden services directory.

Can I prune my own palm on Mallorca? Yes - you can remove dry fronds yourself in winter, as long as you treat the cuts immediately afterward and dispose of the debris correctly. Treating an active infestation or felling a palm is reserved for professionals, and any pruning outside the approved season needs authorization.

Conclusion

The red palm weevil cannot be eradicated on Mallorca anymore, but a single palm can be protected: prune only in the cold months and never into green tissue, treat every cut immediately, and add five to six preventive treatments a year for 120 to 240 EUR. Report a drooping crown right away, even on a neighbor's tree, since a palm is supposed to be treated or removed within seven days of being reported. If you want to adapt your whole garden to the island climate, the post on the Mediterranean garden on Mallorca covers plants that need no treatment plan at all.