To analyse the housing crisis in Ibiza and Formentera, the Pitiusas branch of the Official College of Architects of the Balearic Islands (Col·legi Oficial d’Arquitectes de les Illes Balears) has invited journalist and author Jorge Dioni López. He is the writer of the essays La España de las piscinas and El malestar de las ciudades, both published by Arpa, which explore the roots of one of today’s most serious social problems.
It is this second book — an analysis of the challenges facing contemporary cities, including speculation, gentrification, privatisation and tourism pressure — that will form the basis of his talk, scheduled for tomorrow at 6 pm at Can Ventosa, in Ibiza Town.
The chosen title of the lecture, The Malaise of Ibiza and Formentera: The Worst Place, the Worst Time, leaves little room for optimism. According to Dioni López, the fact that the Pitiusas are islands — “with limited territory and limited mobility” — and that their economies have depended primarily on tourism for decades makes the housing problem more acute and harder to solve. In a telephone interview with Diario de Ibiza, he argues that in the collective imagination “Ibiza and Formentera are not places to live, but places to enjoy”, which makes them highly attractive not only to tourists but also to property investors and second-home buyers.
Aware that one of the most common mistakes is to attribute the housing crisis to a single cause — such as lack of supply, tourist overcrowding or specific legislation — the Zamora-born author aims to stress in his talk that “the housing crisis is global” and linked to “changes in the use of urban space, financial market trends and new social patterns”, among other factors.
“Anyone who tries to focus on a single factor and look for one culprit and one solution is making a mistake. Is tourism responsible? In part — but it is far from being the only cause”, he explains.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.