Ibiza Town Hall has outlined plans for 3,461 public or price-limited homes over the coming years, but almost 60% of the total remain tied to urban-planning procedures that have yet to be completed.

Mayor Rafael Triguero presented the figures during the municipal state-of-the-city debate on 21 October, describing the programme as the largest projection of public housing in the city’s history. However, the headline figure combines projects at very different stages, from a development where construction has begun to sites still undergoing administrative processing.

Of the 3,461 homes announced, 2,076 are price-limited properties linked to developments that have not yet reached the construction stage. The remaining 1,385 form part of the public-housing projects the mayor says his administration has promoted since taking office in 2023.

The figures represent the scale of the municipality’s plans, not the number of homes already completed or available to applicants.

More than 2,000 homes still depend on planning procedures

The largest part of the outstanding pipeline consists of 1,776 price-limited homes proposed for three transition areas: Sa Punta, Sa Joveria and Cas Serres.

The municipality identified these areas as potential locations for residential development under Balearic Islands Law 4/2025, which introduced urgent measures to obtain land for housing.

The three areas cover approximately 236,700 square metres. Before homes can be built, however, the planning framework must be amended and the necessary sectoral and environmental reports obtained. Residential projects must then be approved, the land urbanised and the buildings constructed.

Identifying land for housing and beginning administrative procedures do not mean that plots are ready for construction. The timeline depends on the completion of each stage, and the municipality has not established a firm delivery schedule for these 1,776 homes.

Based on the stages still required, the first homes from these areas are not expected before 2031, even under favourable scenarios.

A further 300 price-limited homes are linked to two Strategic Residential Projects, or PREs, currently in processing. These projects concern urban land and may follow a more streamlined procedure, but they still require the relevant approvals before construction can proceed.

The 1,385 public homes are at different stages

The remaining 1,385 homes are part of the public-housing projects Triguero says have been projected since 2023. This figure also brings together initiatives at different stages of development.

One of the most concrete advances is the 48-home public development at Can Cantó, where the foundation stone was laid on 1 October. The project is being promoted by the Balearic Housing Institute, IBAVI, on land transferred by the town hall. It has a budget of €9.8 million and an expected construction period of 19 months.

Other projects are less advanced. The 532 homes planned at Ca n’Escandell are part of a major development where urbanisation works have progressed, but construction of the residential buildings had not yet begun at the time of the announcement.

The wider public-housing balance also includes eight protected homes planned at the former Mercat Pagès and 25 temporary accommodation units at Carrer de s’Hort de sa Fruita. These initiatives differ in purpose and stage, so they should not be treated as equivalent to completed homes available for allocation.

The town hall has also approved a €4.7 million budget allocation to acquire and refurbish properties for the municipal public-housing stock. That funding is a separate measure and should not be confused with homes already delivered.

Ten years of local registration remains a complicated condition

Triguero reiterated his intention to prioritise residents who have been registered in Ibiza for at least ten years.

The mayor said the city had 2,490 applicants on IBAVI’s housing lists, of whom 1,470 had been registered in Ibiza for at least a decade. He argued that the housing programme should respond first to the needs of people who live in the municipality.

However, the ten-year requirement cannot automatically be applied in the same way to every project. The town hall has more scope to set access conditions for public developments on municipal land. For private price-limited housing, regional rules establish a minimum of five years’ residence in the Balearic Islands.

Municipalities may seek additional local-residency conditions through voluntary agreements with private developers, but they cannot unilaterally impose a ten-year municipal-registration requirement across every private development.

The final eligibility rules will therefore depend on the legal framework and arrangements governing each project.

Housing demand continues to exceed available supply

Triguero said Ibiza had 23,603 homes, a stock he considers insufficient for the city’s population. The municipality’s population increased from 50,715 in 2022 to almost 56,000, adding pressure to a market already affected by limited supply and high prices.

The mayor’s announcement comes against a wider housing shortage. The Balearic Housing Institute had 2,490 applicants registered for housing in Ibiza, according to the figures presented during the debate.

The scale of demand underlines why the distinction between projected and completed homes matters. Planning a development can be an important step, but it does not provide immediate accommodation to people currently waiting for housing.

The key test will be delivery

The 3,461-home figure signals the municipality’s intended scale of response, but much of the programme still depends on planning decisions, infrastructure works, approvals and construction.

The 2,076 price-limited homes are particularly dependent on procedures that have not yet been completed, with the first homes in the three transition areas unlikely to be available before 2031.

For residents facing high rents and limited housing options, the measure of success will ultimately be how many homes are completed, when they become available and who qualifies to live in them.

Until those projects advance, the announced total should be understood as a housing pipeline rather than a near-term solution to Ibiza’s housing crisis.