Freight forwarding Mallorca & Palma – transport to and from the island

Two legs: the motorway to the coast, then the ferry

Every consignment between Central Europe and Mallorca travels in two stages. First a truck drives to a mainland Spanish port – from Prague that means the Rozvadov crossing, Germany, France, La Jonquera and the AP-7 coastal motorway, roughly 1,750 km to Barcelona or around 2,100 km to Valencia. Then the vehicle or trailer is shipped across. Freight-carrying ferries serve Palma from Barcelona, Valencia and Dénia, and Barcelona also has sailings to Alcúdia in the north of the island. Barcelona is the main supply port for the Balearics and is particularly strong in refrigerated cargo.

The crossing itself usually takes several hours. What really drives the delivery date is the specific sailing the truck can catch, so we plan the road leg backwards from a departure and confirm the date once space on board is secured.

Accompanied truck or unaccompanied trailer

We arrange both options through vetted hauliers:

• Accompanied: the driver boards with the truck, drives off in Palma and goes straight to the consignee. Balearic port statistics show that the large majority of freight units reach the islands this way. EU driving-time rules allow part of the daily rest to be taken on board if the driver has a berth.
• Unaccompanied (Ro-Ro): only the trailer sails. It is dropped at the mainland port, shipped, and collected on the island by a local tractor unit. This suits regular deliveries or projects where the trailer stays on Mallorca for staged unloading.
• Pallet groupage: single pallets are consolidated on the mainland and shipped with other freight – slower, but sensible for small volumes.

What the island imports – and the return loads

Almost everything consumed on Mallorca, a little under a million residents plus visitors, arrives by sea, with the highest volumes in the summer months. Typical inbound freight from Central Europe includes building materials and glazing for refurbishments finished before the season, hotel and restaurant furniture, textiles and kitchen equipment, beer and packaged food for hospitality, spare parts and fittings for yachts and marine workshops around Palma, and commercial relocations.

Outbound volumes are smaller, which is why it pays to plan them. Mallorca exports olive oil under the protected designation of origin Oli de Mallorca, with Germany as its biggest foreign market, and wines from the Binissalem and Pla i Llevant appellations. After the season, equipment, exhibition material, returned goods and machinery from finished building sites travel back to the mainland. Tell us early about such a load and we can pair it with an outbound trip.

Unloading in Palma and around the island

Palma, home to around 440,000 people, is the main cargo port. From there the ring road and the island's motorways lead quickly to the airport, the inland towns and the industrial estates on the city's edge, where wholesalers, building-supply depots and hotel suppliers keep their warehouses. Alcúdia is often the better choice for deliveries to the north and east coast.

Central Palma, bounded by the inner avenues and the seafront, has been a low-emission zone since 2025, and the rules for foreign-registered vehicles have been under revision, so we check access before booking. For the old town or narrow village streets in the mountains we use a smaller truck with a tail lift. Hotels and restaurants usually accept goods only in fixed slots outside guest hours – please confirm them in advance during summer.

VAT, paperwork and timing

Unlike the Canary Islands, which lie outside the EU VAT area, the Balearics belong to both the EU customs territory and the Spanish VAT territory. A shipment from the Czech Republic is therefore a normal intra-EU movement: a CMR consignment note plus invoice or delivery note, no customs declaration. Dangerous goods must be declared to the shipping line before sailing because maritime rules apply on board; we hand them only to ADR-equipped carriers.

A full truckload typically reaches Mallorca four to five working days after loading in the Czech Republic, depending on the ferry. Sailing schedules change with the season and with operators' decisions, so every date is confirmed against current departures. Send us the island address with an on-site contact, receiving hours, pallet count and dimensions, weight and forklift availability. Our dispatch desk works weekdays 8:00–18:00 and usually replies within 30 minutes; for an indicative figure use the calculator. The mainland road leg is covered on our Barcelona page.

For transport to the rest of the country, see our page on Spain.

Shipping to the neighbouring island as well? See freight to Ibiza.