Ibiza: lots of sun and little sand

IbizaTry it out. Go to Google Earth (available on web and Android) and do zoom On top of your favorite beach, select the 'Show past images' function until you find the first clear photo. We tested this on the beaches of the small, overpopulated municipality of Ibiza, as they are the subject of this article: Talamanca, Les Figueretes, and a section of Playa de la Bossa. The first truly clear photos are from 2008-2009. Only 17 years have passed, but you can already see how Talamanca has lost some of its sand, while a section of Playa de la Bossa has simply evaporated.

Although it would be more accurate to say it has dissolved. And it's not just the sand. Walkways, boardwalks, and street furniture are suffering from the sea's increasing voracity. The last storm swept a good portion of the Talamanca boardwalk, which ran right at water level, out to sea; The Ibiza Town Council has ruled out rebuilding the walkway in its original location and will seek a new route, because the sea has not only destroyed the footbridge but also the wall that supported it. Twenty years ago, the approach was to get as close to the sea as possible; now, the issue is becoming one of getting away. At least maintaining a respectful distance. The storms of last autumn and this winter have caused €90,000 worth of damage to the coastline of Vila, the municipality with the least coastline on the island, despite being the most populated: in total, just over two kilometers of beach. "The bill we have to pay is the least of our problems here," laments Rubén Sousa, Ibiza's Councilor for Beaches. "The real problem is the state the beaches could end up in if this continues, and I'm not just worried about tourism; I'm also concerned about the businesses and infrastructure located near the sea."

Sousa believes we must stop denying climate change. "It's happening right before our eyes," he states categorically. "It's evident in the rising sea levels and the increasingly frequent and extreme storms." These two factors combined are literally eroding the beaches. So much so that, in the next tender for beach chair concessions, the City Council will reduce the number by 20%. "To make room for those who come with towels," the councilor explains. If Vila already had little beach to share among its 54,000 inhabitants and 12,000 hotel beds, the last thing it needed was for the storm to wash away its sand. The island of Ibiza, and especially its capital, has had a clear example of extreme weather events in recent months: on September 30, 2025, Ibiza Town recorded 254 liters of rainfall per square meter, an all-time record. "If this continues and isn't reversed or stopped, we'll be in a very complicated situation," complains the Ibiza councilor.

A future without sand

It will be difficult to stop the loss of beaches. Several studies, from completely different sources, agree. The report Destruction at all costs 2025 Greenpeace estimates a sea level rise in the Balearic Islands by 2050 of 16 centimeters in the best-case scenario and 33 centimeters in the worst. Does that seem insignificant? It isn't. For every centimeter of sea level rise, an average loss of one meter of horizontal coastline is estimated. In 2024, the sea level rose 0.59 centimeters. By the end of the century, the sea will be between 40 centimeters and one meter higher in the Islands, representing the disappearance of half of the current beaches. In the Balearic Islands, no island beach is spared, whether due to flooding or the combined effect of rising sea levels and storms. Perhaps the most extreme case is Formentera, since, being the smallest island, it has the largest proportional area of ​​beach: 14.6% of its coastline.

TheBalearic Sea Report 2024A study, promoted by the Marilles Foundation, with the collaboration of the Balearic administration, reaches very similar conclusions. This study places the rise in sea level by the end of the century at 55.2 centimeters in the best-case scenario, and 76.5 in the worst. Both reports reflect that the rate of sea level rise is accelerating alarmingly in the western Mediterranean. Given this increasingly evident scenario, with fatal consequences for the monoculture of sun and beach tourism, the silence from the competent authorities—the Coastal Authority of the national government and the Directorate General of Coasts and the Coastline of the Balearic Government—is striking. "For the moment, we have had to advance the money to repair the Talamanca footbridge, even though it belongs to the Coastal Authority," laments the councilor for beaches in Vila. With climate change, it's the same as in restaurants: in the end, someone has to foot the bill.