Ibiza’s architects and construction sector agree that the island’s estimated housing deficit of around 17,000 homes is a real challenge that needs to be addressed, although there are different views on how much new housing the island can realistically absorb and where it should be built.

The figure comes from the new Balearic Housing Observatory, which has highlighted the gap between Ibiza’s population growth and the increase in its residential housing stock over the past 25 years.

According to the Observatory, Ibiza’s population increased by 74,144 people between 2000 and 2025, while the island added 21,406 homes. The resulting demographic and housing imbalance produces an estimated deficit of around 17,000 homes when average household occupancy is taken into account.

Architects support the housing deficit estimate

Lluís Oliva, president of the Ibiza and Formentera delegation of the Official College of Architects of the Balearic Islands, supports the Govern’s assessment that Ibiza needs substantially more housing.

Oliva stressed that the figure should not be interpreted as meaning that another 17,000 people need to move to the island.

Instead, he said the additional housing is needed so people already living in Ibiza can access homes, become independent and live in adequate conditions.

He argued that new housing should therefore be directed towards residents, using mechanisms such as protected housing, limited-price housing or other formulas designed to keep homes within reach of the resident population.

Building without expanding into new territory

Oliva also believes there is room to develop additional housing without necessarily consuming more undeveloped land.

His proposal focuses on areas already identified for urban development within existing planning frameworks.

He pointed to locations including sa Joveria, Can Misses, Can Burgos and areas around Sant Jordi and Jesús, arguing that some of these sites already have streets, pavements and other basic infrastructure.

The architect said the challenge is to make better use of urban land that has already been identified for development, while ensuring that additional construction is accompanied by the necessary infrastructure.

Oliva has previously argued that Ibiza needs to examine greater building heights in appropriate areas and make better use of existing urban land because the island has limited territory.

Builders agree on the scale of the need

The president of the Pimeef Construction Association, Consuelo Antúnez, also accepted the Govern’s estimate of the housing deficit.

However, she stopped short of saying that Ibiza could simply absorb 17,000 new homes.

Antúnez said the island needs to assess the resources available before determining how much construction can actually be carried out.

She also highlighted another part of the housing equation: homes that already exist but are not being offered on the long-term rental market.

For Antúnez, making rental property more attractive to owners could help bring some existing homes back onto the market rather than relying exclusively on new construction.

The construction sector has its own housing problem

There is also a practical limitation to any rapid expansion of construction.

Antúnez said construction companies in Ibiza currently have more work than they can handle and do not have enough workers to meet all the demand.

She linked the shortage of construction workers directly to the island’s housing difficulties, as finding somewhere to live is itself a major obstacle for people who might otherwise work in the sector.

This creates a difficult cycle: Ibiza needs more homes, but expanding construction also requires more workers, and those workers need somewhere to live.

Latest construction figures show a mixed picture

The latest figures from the Official College of Architects of the Balearic Islands underline why increasing the number of homes cannot be treated simply as a question of available demand.

For the year ending June 2026, 811 new homes were recorded in Ibiza and Formentera in the COAIB statistics, compared with 805 in the equivalent previous period. The overall number of new homes was therefore broadly stable.

Within that total, however, the picture varies significantly by type.

There were 429 new single-family homes, an increase of 44.44%. COAIB notes that 231 of these cases involved extraordinary legalisation files, meaning the headline increase does not represent a comparable increase in newly built homes. Without those legalisations, the number of new single-family homes would have fallen by around 10%.

Free-market multi-family housing also declined. COAIB recorded 376 such homes for the period, down 26.85% year-on-year. Sant Antoni accounted for the largest number, with 185, followed by Santa Eulària with 77, Ibiza Town with 72, Formentera with 28, Sant Joan with 12 and Sant Josep with two.

At the same time, protected and limited-price housing has begun to appear more prominently in the figures.

COAIB recorded 48 protected multi-family homes and 81 homes under another protected-price category during the period, although these figures remain small compared with the overall housing requirement.

The Govern’s 17,000 figure is an estimate, not a construction target

The 17,000 figure needs to be understood correctly.

The OHIB does not identify 17,000 specific homes that have already been approved, designed or placed into a construction programme.

Instead, it measures the accumulated gap created by the fact that Ibiza’s population has grown considerably faster than its housing stock.

Between 2000 and 2025, Ibiza’s population increased by 82.74%, while its housing stock grew by 39.56%. The resulting 43.18% differential is the Observatory’s demographic-residential indicator. The estimated need of around 17,000 homes is then calculated taking average occupancy into account.

That distinction is important because the figure describes a structural housing need rather than a list of 17,000 homes that could immediately be built.

The island already has housing programmes underway

The Govern is pursuing several programmes intended to increase affordable and public housing on Ibiza.

The Balearic Government says more than 1,200 affordable homes are currently planned for residents on Ibiza. Separately, the IBAVI has more than 400 public housing units in planning on the island.

The public programme includes projects at locations such as Can Escandell, where 170 homes are planned, as well as additional developments in Ibiza Town and Sant Antoni. The different projects are at different stages, including planning, tendering and construction preparation, so they should not be treated as completed housing already available to residents.

A question of where and for whom

The discussion among Ibiza’s professional sectors therefore goes beyond simply asking how many homes are needed.

Architects are calling for greater use of existing urban areas and housing aimed at residents. Builders point to the limits created by labour shortages and the need to consider existing empty or underused homes. Meanwhile, the Govern is developing public and affordable housing programmes intended to increase supply.

The island’s demographic figures demonstrate that the gap between population and housing has become substantial over the past quarter-century.

The next challenge is turning that diagnosis into housing that can actually be built, staffed, financed and made accessible to the people who live and work in Ibiza.