Ibiza grew more in inhabitants and received more tourists in 2023 than Menorca, Lanzarote and La Palma (the latter two in the Canary Islands), despite being the smallest of the four islands. These data appear in the 4 Islands 2024 Report, a comparative analysis of the four islands through some one hundred sustainability indicators collected until December 2023. The study has been prepared by the Data Center of the Cabildo de Lanzarote, the World Biosphere Reserve of La Palma, the Observatori Socioambiental de Menorca of the Institut Menorquí d’Estudis and the Observatorio de Sostenibilidad of the IbizaPreservation foundation.
According to the population indicators of the report, Ibiza reached 159,180 inhabitants in 2023, which means more than double the population of the island in 1991 (72,309)and thus exceeds the number of inhabitants of all the other islands, despite its smaller surface area. Lanzarote, for example, also grew demographically in 2023 and reached 158,798 inhabitants, but its size is 845.9 square km (the largest of those analyzed), as opposed to the 571.8 square km occupied by Ibiza.
The smallest and most populated
Experts highlight, however, that Ibiza maintains a percentage of urban land (5.3%) similar to that of Lanzarote (5.6%) and is the island that shows the greatest potential for growth, with 3.5% of land for development, compared to 1.8% in the Canary Islands.
Returning to population terms, in Ibiza the demographic pressure is reflected in the population density reaching 278 inhabitants per square kilometer in 2023, compared to 126 inhabitants per square kilometer in 1991.
Taking into account the vegetative balance (births and deaths) and the migratory balance (difference between immigration and emigration), Ibiza has experienced sustained growth and the report notes that it is the island with the greatest demographic expansion of the four analyzed.
These population figures are taken into account together with the proportion of tourists arriving on the islands, which in Ibiza led to the human pressure figure, which adds residents and visitors, reaching 230,097 people on a single day in 2023.
These data are directly related to seasonality, which implies “high pressure on local resources and infrastructures”, as the report shows.
More than three million tourists
In terms of tourist inflow, the study shows that Ibiza is, together with Lanzarote, the most visited island in the world, leader by exceeding three million tourists per year in 2023, although the Pitiusa recorded a higher figure: 3,717,625 tourists compared to Lanzarote’s 3,179,036.
In addition to these population indicators, Ibiza leads in the number of construction projects approved by the respective official architects’ associations, which means that an extension, renovation or new construction project meets the necessary requirements to be carried out. In Ibiza, 835 projects were registered in 2023, compared to 286 in Lanzarote.
These projects also exceed in our island the data in projected surface, which was 368,030 square meters, compared to 98,668 in Lanzarote. These figures reflect, according to the report, “the high urban pressure and demand for residential and tourist infrastructure on the island”.
Ibiza is followed in this section by the neighboring island of Menorca, with 706 construction projects approved in 2023 and a projected surface area of 121,958 square meters, which reflects a significant difference with respect to the Canary Islands. On La Palma, the number of building projects approved reached 318 in 2023, reflecting the recovery of construction activity on the island in response to the eruption of the Tajogaite volcano in 2021.
In this regard, with respect to land use in island territories, Ibiza also has the highest proportion of artificial surface (8.8%), followed by Lanzarote (8.5%).
These data contrast with the crisis of access to housing in the island territories, an indicator that for now the report does not address, although it hopes to include it soon, as indicated by Inma Saranova, president of IbizaPreservation, and Elisa Langley, coordinator of the Observatory of Sustainability of the environmental foundation, during the presentation of the report at the headquarters of the Consell de Ibiza.
Both were accompanied by the Councilor for Territory and Tourism Planning and first vice president, Mariano Juan, and, telematically, the director of the Data Center of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, Miguel Angel Martin Rosa, and the director of the Observatori Socioambiental de Menorca, David Carreras Martí.
Measures in time
“It is alarming to observe the differences in the data on the sale price of the territory and the percentages of urbanized land or land with urban development potential,” warns Elisa Langley, coordinator of the Sustainability Observatory of IbizaPreservation, who warned that “Ibiza shows signs of reaching an extreme situation, marking a trend that other islands could end up replicating if measures are not taken in time.”
Faced with the broad diagnosis offered by the 4 Islands 2024 Report, it is proposed to follow a roadmap based on four strategic axes. These are based on moderating the speed of development, promoting sustainable tourism models that reduce seasonality,[]anddiversify the economy and plan with an ecological vision that protects ecosystems and the territory, according to the presentation.
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