Squatters in Ibiza

The scarcity and high cost of home rental on Ibiza is caused in large part by having too many properties vacant for most of the year. The government says that much of this stems from the dangers that owners face from illegal squatters. The president of the Consell Vicent Marí has said, “There are thousands of empty homes and that is only due to lack of legal protection. It cannot be that squatters have more rights than those who own the home.” Unfortunately, that seems to be the current state of the law, as getting illegals out of your home is extremely difficult. As a result, many owners are afraid to rent because they have either had a bad experience with illegal occupation, or know of others who have. So they prefer short term rentals for tourism because that is more profitable and does not put their ownership in danger. President Marí says that the central government must resolve this situation: "It has to create a legal framework of security and immediacy. If there was more legal security for the owners, there would be more homes on the market and prices would go down."