The Ibizan paradox: 'luxury' tourists without workers to attend to them

Ibiza“For many workers, it’s no longer worth coming to Ibiza”. Guadalupe López, general secretary of Services and Consumption for UGT in the Pitiuses, the majority union in hotels, expresses herself with this forcefulness. Her offices handle between 15 and 20 daily inquiries from sector workers, mostly to see if they can process a leave of absence. “People can no longer come to Ibiza because they can’t find a place to stay, or they can’t afford it, and since they are permanent seasonal workers, they ask how to request leave of absence,” explains the union representative. According to the hotel industry agreement, a permanent seasonal worker can take a maximum leave of absence of two years. “In some cases, the worker consulting is doing so because they have found a better job on the Peninsula; perhaps not as well-paid as in Ibiza, but with a much lower cost of living; in other cases, they simply can’t find a place to stay,” specifies Guadalupe López. The Balearic hotel industry agreement is “the best in Spain”, according to her criteria, with salaries that in any case exceed 1,700 euros gross, for waiters, kitchen staff, or chambermaids; salaries that will increase by 4% this year.

But, even so, the numbers don't add up. It's easy to see how holiday rentals have taken over residential ones in Ibiza. If you go, for example, to the Idealista portal (the absolute leader in Spain, with more than 50 million monthly visits), you'll only find four rooms on offer for April, between 800 and 1,800 euros a month; if you repeat the search in May there are only two, and if you look for a room for June, July, August... The answer is zero. 'We've looked everywhere, but we haven't found what you're looking for,' Idealista informs you in headline typography and, in case you haven't made it clear, they add a drawing of a man looking under a rug without finding anything. If you ask real estate agencies, the answer will be pretty much the same. On the other hand, if instead of selecting the 'Rent' tab on Idealista you choose the one that says 'Holiday', the result is very different: a beautiful mosaic of bright properties and bright blue swimming pools will unfold before your eyes (not for nothing, Ibiza has a census of 10,800 swimming pools), which, obviously, are far beyond the possibilities of a worker. And if you happen to be rich, don't get your hopes up too much either: for August on Idealista there are only five of these magnificent properties left, with prices around 7,000 euros a week.

For their part, the Hotel Federation of Ibiza denies that leaves of absence are anything new. “It is one more circumstance that is added to the global problem”, considers the manager of the hoteliers, Manuel Sendino. The spokesperson acknowledges that completing staff is extremely difficult and, at times, an impossible mission. “And then we have to cut services”, he laments. “It is a chronic headache. I don't know if this year we are worse or better than other years, but I do know that the difficulty of finding workers has become normalized: there is a lack of room staff, kitchen staff, room staff, staff for everything”. Faced with this, most hotel companies have established some kind of strategy to provide housing for employees: some have built buildings to accommodate them, some rent buildings or apartments, and some allocate part of the hotel's own rooms to staff – as the recently opened Parador of Ibiza has had to do, for example.

Meanwhile, UGT denounces the conditions in which some workers have to live. “There are hotels that give them rooms that the employers surely would not put themselves in”, protests Guadalupe López. “Rooms without ventilation, with dampness, or next to the air conditioning units or with pipes crossing the ceiling”. They have also received several cases of “hot beds”: one worker sleeps at night and another occupies the same bed during the day. Conditions that the union considers “indignity”.

Caravans, the last resort

The last option for someone who cannot find accommodation is to move into one of the caravan parks that, in recent years and very rapidly, have been dotting the Ibizan geography, especially around the capital. This year, the tourist season will begin with a new eviction. The Court of First Instance number 5 of Ibiza has set for next April 29 the eviction of the caravan camp located in the Can Misses area, specifically, on a plot between the Palladium Can Misses stadium (where UD Ibiza plays) and the E-20, the second ring road of Vila. About 80 people live there. "Where will they end up?", asks Guadalupe López. "They will have to go somewhere. We know that some are hotel workers".

It's curious that next to a football stadium named Palladium, a caravan park is growing. The Ibizan tourist monoculture functions as a paradox. In philosophy and mathematics, a paradox is a statement that leads to two mutually contradictory conclusions, yet which cannot be dismissed: Ibiza needs workers, but cannot house them; it wants luxury tourism, but cannot cater to it with qualified staff; it continues to generate wealth, but sends hundreds of people to live in caravans. Ibiza claims to be young, modern, multicultural, and open, but normal people don't have a place there.