Inside Spain: How Ibiza's residents are taking action against overtourism
2024 was the year anti-tourism protests in Spain. Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Seville, Alicante, Granada, Cantabria, Tenerife, Mallorca, and also the small Balearic island of Ibiza.
Every summer, Ibiza becomes the party spot of the world's rich and famous, drawing in the best DJs and young revellers who don't mind spending their savings on VIP lounges and bottles of champagne.
The island is particularly overrun with affluent tourists during the high season, but even when the temperatures drop and the jetsetters leave, Ibiza is unaffordable for most residents.
Combined with a lack of affordable housing, overtourism and short-term tourist rental accommodation have sent rental costs skyrocketing.
In fact, it's been so bad in Ibiza that working locals, from hospitality workers to even police officers and nurses, are being forced to live in their cars or tents.
Four municipalities in Ibiza are among the top ten with the most expensive rents in the whole of Spain.
Local media reports suggest that around 200,000 people continue to be at risk of poverty in the Balearic Islands more widely.
Now it seems that Ibiza's roughly 160,000 residents have had enough, and are fighting back in a number of ways.
Ibiza's Mirador des Vedrà lookout point has in recent years become famous for its instagrammable sunsets, and with it hoards of tourists, traffic jams, rubbish and even DJ sets have taken over this protected natural space. For many, it's a symbol of everything that's wrong with the tourism model in Ibiza.
So it was perhaps inevitable that local authorities would eventually take action, as they have given permission (or turned a blind eye rather) when disgruntled residents recently blocked the parking spots available close to the clifftop and even closed off access to pedestrian tourists with big rocks and fencing.
That's just the start. The local council this week signed a 'historic' agreement with Airbnb to ban adverts for illegal and very questionable accommodation on the island.
The measure, which stops ads for caravans, campervans and tents from appearing on Airbnb, is part of a strategy to combat unregulated tourism and ensure that Ibiza remains a sustainable holiday destination.
The reality for many Ibiza residents is very different from that of the tens of thousands of international partygoers who visit Mediterranean island every year. (Photo by JAIME REINA / AFP)
Ibiza Council President Vicent Marí has described the agreement as 'a milestone for Ibiza as a sustainable and quality tourist destination' and has emphasised that the collaboration with Airbnb is 'historic and pioneering' as it will allow illegal listings on the island to be combated more effectively.
'Our objective is for Ibiza to be recognised for its regulated offer and for illegality to have no place,' he said.
Local renters are also taking action themselves. The Ibiza and Formentera Tenants' Union has called for a new mass protest on April 5th in defence of housing and against rising rent prices on the island.
Marching under the slogan: 'Let's end the housing business', the demonstration is backed by dozens of organisations from the housing movement and it looks set to be joined by similar rallies on mainland Spain.
As has been the case across Spain, rents are the main concern: 'The exorbitant price of rents are the main cause of impoverishment of the working class and a barrier to accessing housing,' they assert.
Tourists inevitably bring traffic and cars are now also set to be cracked down on in Ibiza. The vice president of Ibiza's council, Mariano Juan, says that they are considering ways to better control vehicle entry and circulation.
Cadena Ser reports that the plan will establish a daily limit this season of 20,168 vehicles on the roads, of which 4,000 will be for tourists.
Juan says that the plan 'does not seek to prohibit, but to limit and organise the impact of certain types of vehicles,' he said, in reference to motorhomes used by tourists.
Ibiza's struggle is similar to that of neighbouring Mallorca and Spain's other popular archipelago - the Canaries (mainly Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote) - but given Ibiza's tiny size and the exclusivity it holds among wealthy travellers, the effects of overtourism ibicencos face are magnified.
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