The Spanish island of Ibiza’s gorgeous beaches and expensive nightclubs, where people stand in long lines, attract millions of tourists, while locals and seasonal workers are forced to live in illegal caravan parks, writes the news agency Reuters.
It’s just another evening and another party at an Ibiza hotel. Many are dressed in white, some have clearly enjoyed intoxicating substances. If you ask those queuing up at this place and at other famous nightclubs, people believe that they are spending a lot, but it is worth it. Meanwhile, behind the bright lights and sleek signs, Ibiza is gripped by a housing crisis. Locals and seasonal workers live in cramped apartments, travel from neighboring islands or stay in tents and trailers in illegal campsites.
Ibiza’s situation mirrors the general situation in Spain, where the housing crisis is raging, with protests against overtourism and short-term rentals in popular coastal resorts. Activists accuse landlords of favouring tourists, who are more profitable than long-term rentals. According to local authorities, almost 800 people were living in makeshift settlements in Ibiza last year, and that figure does not include the 200 or so who were living in tents, sheds and the Can Rovi 2 campervan before being evicted.
Jeronimo Diana, a 50-year-old Argentine plumber who lived in the demolished campsite, told Reuters that the island was a paradise and the most beautiful place he had ever seen, but it also had a dark side. The rent would take up most of his 1,800-euro monthly salary. A small one-room apartment on the island currently costs around 1,500 euros a month, while the minimum wage in Spain is 1,381 euros.
The housing crisis is likely to be the reason why Ibiza is facing a shortage of teachers and healthcare workers.
Public sector workers are coming from the neighbouring Balearic Islands.
Maria Jose Tejero, a 24-year-old ambulance worker, said she shares a small apartment with two other people to make ends meet, as rent costs twice as much as her salary.
Local statistics show that 3.28 million tourists visited Ibiza in 2024, 76% of them from abroad, while the island’s population reached 161,485 people.
A mechanic and builder from Colombia who has requested asylum in Spain said that as long as tourists come to the island, there will also be people living in terrible conditions to be able to work.
A 31-year-old Colombian with a residence permit is living in a shelter run by the Catholic charity Caritas. She couldn’t pay her rent and for a time lived in a tent with her three-year-old son. She now works in a hotel.
Caritas shelter managers said landlords routinely discriminate against families with children,
evicting tenants to let in tourists during the lucrative summer months.
Local authorities are trying to crack down on illegal tourist accommodation by imposing fines of up to 40,000 euros on those who advertise them. Rental housing portals have agreed to immediately remove ads that officials consider illegal, without waiting for a court ruling.
At the national level, the center-left government has pledged to triple the state housing budget and speed up housing construction. Meanwhile, a law passed in 2023 that introduced controls on rental housing has only been partially successful, as opposition-controlled regions refuse to comply with the rules.
Read also: Spaniards try to enjoy their vacation amidst the tourist crowds; beaches are becoming too expensive
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The post The two realities of Ibiza: non-stop parties and life in a trailer park appeared first on Baltic News Network.