For most people, Ibiza’s coastline means turquoise water, dramatic cliffs, hidden coves and some of the island’s most beautiful sunsets.

For Cristian M. Fontán and the volunteers of Trekking Ibiza, some of those same places reveal a very different picture.

The group regularly reaches stretches of coastline that are difficult or impossible to access by conventional cleaning crews, using hiking, climbing, ropes, paddle boards, boats and, in some cases, freediving to remove rubbish accumulated among the rocks and caves.

After spending almost 20 years living on the island, Fontán says he has never seen Ibiza as dirty as he believes it has been this summer. His assessment comes from what he and the group have encountered during their coastal routes and volunteer clean-ups, where they have found everything from plastic bags and bottles to large buoys, boat remains, fishing equipment and other bulky debris.

The People Cleaning the Coast Nobody Sees

Trekking Ibiza was founded in 2019 by Fontán, an experienced climber and mountaineer who wanted to explore more of the island's outdoor landscape.

The group organises hiking routes of different difficulties as well as coastal routes involving sections of climbing and scrambling. Those technical excursions gradually exposed the members to another side of Ibiza's coastline.

The further they went into inaccessible areas, the more rubbish they found.

That eventually led Fontán to organise specific clean-up outings when the group had enough availability and suitable conditions to do so.

Trekking Ibiza is not a commercial cleaning company. The group describes itself as a non-profit community, with members contributing a small annual amount to help buy equipment and maintain safety during its activities.

Some of the equipment needed to remove heavy waste also comes directly out of the volunteers' own pockets.

Around 65 Members, But Small Clean-Up Teams

The wider Trekking Ibiza group has around 65 members, although the technically demanding clean-ups are carried out by much smaller teams.

For safety reasons, no more than 12 people have participated in these particular operations.

That limits the number of volunteers who can physically reach the most difficult areas, but it also means that every bag of rubbish removed represents a considerable amount of manual work.

In Ses Balandres, for example, one clean-up produced six large 120-litre bags of waste.

At Cap des Falcó in 2025, 11 volunteers covered approximately three kilometres of coastline and removed around 14 large 120-litre bags, alongside the bow section of a boat and other material.

The August 2025 Cap des Falcó operation was carried out over four hours and also recovered 20 plastic drums of 20 litres, three construction sacks, carpets, tyres and mooring ropes.

Hundreds of Kilos Removed This Year

The scale has continued into 2026.

Fontán says that three specific clean-up activities carried out this year have already produced around half a tonne of rubbish.

He estimates that, adding the work completed in 2025 and 2026, the group has removed approximately two tonnes of waste.

Even Fontán qualifies that figure, saying he may be underestimating it but does not want to exaggerate.

A September clean-up between Ses Boques and Cala Llentrisca illustrates the variety of material involved.

Nine volunteers recovered a windsurf board, nine plastic rubbish bags, a container from an emergency raft, pieces of iron, crab traps and several 20-litre plastic drums. A boat provided by collaborator Andy Pirata was used to reach difficult sections and transport the recovered material away from the coast.

A 300-Kilo Blue Buoy

One of Fontán's most unusual challenges is currently sitting inside a cave at Cala d'Aubarca.

It is a large blue buoy that he estimates weighs around 300 kilograms.

According to information given to him by one of his collaborators, the buoy has been there for many years and may have been pushed into the rock during a storm with waves of around four or five metres. That explanation has not been independently established.

Fontán has already spent around three hours working with a crowbar to free the buoy from the rock.

He succeeded in dislodging it, but the buoy then fell approximately three metres deeper into the cave.

His next step is to use a chain hoist to lift it out, with the equipment expected to cost him around €60 personally.

It is not the first heavy object the group has removed.

With help from the crew of the Capitán Nemo boat, another buoy weighing approximately 80 kilograms was recently removed from Ses Balandres. The volunteers had to move it around 50 metres underwater using freediving techniques before getting it to a higher rock where it could be lifted aboard.

Where Is All the Rubbish Coming From?

Fontán believes there is no single source.

Some debris arrives from the sea through currents and storms. Other rubbish, however, appears to originate much closer to the island.

The group finds bottles, cans, plastic objects and other material around the shoreline, while Fontán also points to rubbish discarded from boats and waste left directly on the coast.

He says the problem is particularly visible in places where visitors stop to enjoy the scenery and leave behind bottles and cans that can subsequently be blown or washed into the sea.

The issue is not confined to the coastline.

Fontán also points to litter along roadsides and accumulated waste in places such as the Lidl car park in Sant Antoni and the Ses Variades area.

He says he has spoken with the supermarket's manager about rubbish accumulating around the car park and has argued for stronger measures to discourage littering.

His concerns about those locations are his observations and opinions rather than official findings about the causes of the accumulated waste.

Punta Galera Also Raises Concerns

Fontán has particular concerns about Punta Galera, where visitors regularly gather to watch the sunset.

He says bottles and cans are frequently left behind on the cliffs and fears that wind can subsequently carry them towards the sea.

For him, the contradiction is particularly frustrating: people visit the area because of its natural beauty but then leave waste behind in the same landscape.

Volunteers Are Not Saying Nobody Else Is Cleaning

Fontán acknowledges that public authorities do provide assistance.

He specifically recognises support from the environmental departments of Sant Josep and Sant Antoni, including material, personnel and designated collection points.

He also points to the role of the coastal authorities, whose boats collect waste that volunteers are able to gather and leave in accessible locations.

At the same time, he argues that the existing resources are not enough for the scale of the problem he encounters.

He believes there should be greater prevention, more education, additional coastal resources and more organised clean-ups carried out directly by public authorities instead of depending so heavily on volunteers.

Municipal Clean-Ups Are Also Taking Place

The wider picture is not limited to the observations of Trekking Ibiza.

In September, Ibiza Town carried out another technically difficult operation to remove waste from the cliff at Baix sa Penya. The municipality estimated that between 10 and 20 tonnes were removed during the 2026 intervention, while previous operations in the area had removed around 30 tonnes. The material was transported away by sea after being collected from the cliff.

Sant Josep has also continued organising coastal clean-up initiatives. In September, the municipality announced a World Cleanup Day operation at Es Cavallet together with Herbusa and the Asociación de Voluntarios de Ibiza, focusing particularly on plastic waste.

These operations involve different areas and different types of waste from the material recovered by Trekking Ibiza, so the quantities should not be combined into one figure.

The Volunteers Keep Going

Despite the frustration, Fontán says the group continues its work because the physical challenge is accompanied by a sense that they are doing something useful for the island.

The next target is already identified.

At Es Canaret, he has found a large polystyrene object measuring approximately one metre by one metre. He is concerned that as it deteriorates, it will break into increasingly small pieces.

It is another difficult piece of rubbish in another difficult location.

And another reason for the group to return to the coast.

A Different View of Ibiza

The story of Trekking Ibiza offers a view of the island that most visitors never see.

Behind the photographs of empty coves and spectacular cliffs are places where volunteers carrying 120-litre bags, heavy objects and pieces of marine equipment have to climb, rappel, swim and sometimes dive simply to remove waste that has accumulated in the landscape.

Fontán's statement that Ibiza is dirtier than he has ever seen it is his personal assessment, not an official measurement of the island's overall cleanliness.

But the physical evidence collected by Trekking Ibiza is difficult to ignore.

Across multiple clean-ups, volunteers have removed hundreds of kilos of waste this year alone, with their own estimate approaching two tonnes across 2025 and 2026.

Their message is ultimately simple: enjoy Ibiza, but leave the coast as you found it.

Accuracy note: The statement “In 20 years I’ve never seen the island so dirty” comes from Cristian M. Fontán and reflects his personal assessment after years of exploring Ibiza's coastline. It should not be presented as an official measurement of island-wide cleanliness. Trekking Ibiza was founded in 2019 and has approximately 65 members, although its technically difficult clean-ups have involved no more than 12 participants for safety reasons. Fontán says three specific clean-ups in 2026 produced around 500 kilograms of waste and estimates approximately two tonnes were removed across 2025 and 2026, while explicitly acknowledging that this is an estimate. The Cap des Falcó figures from 2025 and the September 2026 Ses Boques-Cala Llentrisca clean-up are independently documented in earlier reports. The approximately 10-20 tonnes removed from Baix sa Penya in September 2026 were a separate municipal operation and have not been added to Trekking Ibiza's figures.