Not even the fishermen's cottages of Ibiza are safe from pressure from real estate agents.

PalmReal estate agencies have found a new niche market to exploit in the Balearic Islands: fishermen's cottages (casitas varadero). While the Balearic Islands are experiencing an unprecedented housing crisis and residents are finding it increasingly difficult to buy a flat or house to live in, speculators have found a new tool to speculate.

With the territory overexploited and urbanized, and with a new law that allows even more construction, the real estate market now includes a new element in the equation whose prices, as has happened with the case of housing, are discouraging residents from buying and turning into... a market almost exclusively for foreigners.

The price of boathouses, formerly used solely for storing fishermen's and sailors' boats and tools, has now risen to €250,000. Through a social media post, one company is promoting them as a great business opportunity.

The developer explains that these cottages began to be built in the 18th century for fishermen and lack electricity, but adds that many already have solar panels or can be upgraded to include electricity. He also emphasizes that the vast majority of these cottages "are legalized" and can be bought and sold "legally." The price of those "in the best locations can reach €250,000," explains the company employee, who promotes this new real estate model as a great business opportunity, both for speculation and for enjoying a cottage on the seafront.

Comments on the development on social media have been swift. While the vast majority criticize this practice and the sale of part of the Balearic Islands' maritime heritage, others accuse the company of being a "liar." "Buying and selling boathouses is illegal; they are passed down from parents to children," they assert.