Thousands of people took to the streets of Ibiza on Sunday, September 20, to protest against Aena's planned remodelling of Ibiza Airport and to call for limits on further tourism growth on the island.

The demonstration was organised by the Associació de Joves d'Eivissa (AJE) and supported by around 50 organisations, including environmental groups, trade unions, neighbourhood associations and political organisations.

Demonstration Begins in Vara de Rey

The march began shortly after 18:00 at the Paseo de Vara de Rey in Ibiza Town.

Participants then travelled through the centre of the city before continuing towards the area around Parque Reina Sofía.

The original route announced by organisers included a stop outside the Consell d'Eivissa for the reading of a manifesto. On Sunday, the demonstration ultimately reached Parque Reina Sofía, where the manifesto was read at around 20:00.

Attendance Estimates Differ

There was no single agreed figure for the size of the demonstration.

EFE reported an estimate of around 2,500 participants, while the Police gave a figure of approximately 4,500. The Government Delegation in the Balearic Islands reported around 5,000 participants, while the organisers estimated between 5,000 and 10,000.

The different estimates mean that the safest description is that thousands of people participated.

What the Protest Was About

AJE called the demonstration in opposition to Aena's airport remodelling plans.

The organisation argues that increasing the number of boarding gates, expanding other passenger facilities and creating additional infrastructure could contribute to greater tourism pressure on Ibiza.

Its wider demands include a different approach to tourism management, with greater consideration given to housing, mobility, water resources, public services and the island's environmental capacity. These are the positions expressed by the organisers.

What Aena's Project Actually Includes

Aena says its project is primarily intended to adapt Ibiza Airport to new European security and border-control requirements and to modernise the terminal.

The plans include a new centralised passport-control area and a new pier dedicated to passengers travelling outside the Schengen Area.

The project will also involve a complete renovation of the boarding lounge, increasing the number of boarding gates to 32. Eight new passenger boarding bridges are also planned.

Aena Says Flight Capacity Will Not Increase

Aena has repeatedly stated that the planned works will not increase the airport's hourly capacity for take-offs and landings.

The airport operator says this is because the capacity of the airfield itself is not being increased. Its position is that the additional gates are required so that Schengen and non-Schengen passengers can be handled separately and efficiently, even with the same level of traffic.

Aena also says the proportion of high-season flights able to use boarding bridges could rise from around 25% currently to approximately 75% after the remodelling.

Dispute Over Future Passenger Capacity

The protest movement disputes the interpretation that the project cannot lead to higher passenger numbers.

The platform supporting the demonstration has argued that removing operational bottlenecks in the terminal and aircraft parking areas could allow the airport to process more passengers even without extending the runway.

Those claims refer to wider planning and contracting documentation and represent the interpretation of the protest movement. Aena's stated position remains that the project does not increase airfield capacity or the number of take-offs and landings possible per hour.

DORA III Includes €38.7 Million for Ibiza Terminal Adaptation

The Spanish Government's DORA III airport regulatory document, approved on September 15 and published in the Official State Gazette on September 19, includes €38.7 million for the adaptation of Ibiza Airport's terminal building to new regulations.

The document gives December 2035 as the planned completion date for that investment.

This figure should not automatically be treated as the total value of every airport-related action planned or discussed for Ibiza.

Wider Claims About Airport Investment

The platform behind the protest has also cited Aena contracting documents and claimed that as many as 55 actions could eventually be carried out at the airport, with a combined value of around €500 million.

These figures concern a broader set of possible interventions and were presented by the platform as evidence that the transformation could be wider than the terminal remodelling initially presented by Aena.

They should be distinguished from the €38.7 million investment specifically identified for Ibiza in DORA III.

Political and Social Support

The demonstration attracted representatives from several political parties as well as environmental, social and neighbourhood organisations.

Among those present were representatives of the PSOE in Ibiza and members of other political groups. The participation of individual political figures does not mean that all supporting organisations share identical positions on tourism or airport policy.

Consell d'Eivissa president Vicent Marí had previously expressed support for the concerns behind the demonstration, while not initially confirming whether he would attend.

Aena's Remodelling Timeline

Aena presented the project publicly in June 2026, describing the works as a response to European security and border-control requirements as well as an effort to modernise passenger facilities.

The operator subsequently put a €16.24 million project-management contract out to tender. That contract covers the planning and management of the various airport actions, including future project design, tendering, construction and commissioning.

This means the existence of individual tenders or contracts does not by itself mean that the complete remodelling programme is already under construction.

Ibiza Airport's Existing Traffic

Ibiza Airport handled 9,138,224 passengers in 2025 and 85,086 aircraft movements, counting arrivals and departures.

The airport's passenger total increased by 0.7% compared with 2024, according to Aena.

The current debate is therefore taking place around an airport that is already handling more than nine million passenger movements annually.

Protest Highlights Tourism Debate

The September 20 demonstration linked the airport debate to wider concerns about tourism pressure on Ibiza.

Organisers argued that further infrastructure development should be considered alongside the island's available housing, water, transport and public services.

Aena, meanwhile, maintains that its planned remodelling is intended to modernise the airport, comply with European requirements and improve passenger processing without increasing the hourly capacity of the airfield.

Manifesto Read in Parque Reina Sofía

The demonstration ended with the reading of the AJE manifesto in Parque Reina Sofía.

The event represented one of the largest recent public mobilisations on Ibiza around the island's tourism model and future airport infrastructure, although the exact number of participants remains disputed because the attendance estimates vary between authorities, news agencies and organisers.