José Antonio Llano, president of AVAT, emphasizes that his sector attracts family tourism to the island.
SOURCE: PERIÓDICO DE IBIZA Y FORMENTERA, 22 MAY 2025
Juan A. Torres
There are as many legal tourist accommodation spaces in Ibiza as illegal ones. José Antonio Llano, president of the Association of Holiday Tourist Accommodations of Ibiza and Formentera (AVAT), stated this yesterday on the TEF program "Bona nit Pitiüses" (Bonus Night Pitiüses). "There is an imbalance between our supply and demand for our product," noted Llano, who counted 18,500 legal tourist accommodation spaces in Ibiza. "Of these, there is a percentage that are inactive and not being marketed, so we're at around 15,000. Looking at the Ibestat, there are tourists whose whereabouts we don't know, and it doesn't make sense that they're all staying with friends," added the president of AVAT, who quantified the number of illegal tourist accommodation spaces in Ibiza at around 20,000.
José Antonio Llano emphasized that tourists who tend to opt for tourist accommodation "are customers who consume: catering, boats, rentals... They spend money outside the establishment and demand services that promote wealth distribution."
Furthermore, the president of AVAT emphasized that tourist accommodation is "in high demand among family tourism," while in recent years many hotels on the island have focused more on luxury tourism or are "adults only." "It's a type of tourism that wants its own space and doesn't compete with hotels: those who want a hotel go to a hotel, while those who prefer tourist accommodation choose one of these villas," Llano noted.
The president of AVAT stated that Ibiza "is fortunate to have a huge range of visitors; we are an attractive destination for different clients," and that tourists who choose to stay in holiday homes have different purchasing power levels. "There are houses where ten people spend the same amount as a hotel room or less," Llano pointed out.
The president of the holiday home association in Ibiza and Formentera also explained that there are many tourists loyal to the island. "The problem is that if you like a hotel, you can choose from one hundred rooms, but if you like a home, you have to run for it," said Llano.
The president of the Association of Holiday Homes of Ibiza and Formentera pointed out that his sector "is in good health, a positive situation because it is a sector that is functioning and has high demand on the island, but at the same time, it feels pressured by a growing illegal supply and a public opinion that puts us all in the same boat because of the problems created by illegal supply in multi-family homes."
Regarding the fight against intrusion and illegal tourism, José Antonio Llano believes that "important steps have been taken," while emphasizing that the only legal tourist rentals allowed in Ibiza are single-family homes. "There are these illegal tourist apartments that we believe are causing the problems of overcrowding and housing shortages," noted the president of AVAT.
Llano emphasized that in this regard, "we are doing something that hasn't been done before. The Consell d'Eivissa has put many resources into emphasizing the fight against intrusion. We are on the right path," and described the agreement with Airbnb as a "historic event." "Important steps are being taken and there will be positive results," Llano expressed his hope.
José Antonio Llano was critical of the elimination of the 9,000 tourist beds currently frozen in the stock market, an agreement reached by the Consell d'Eivissa with the Hotel Federation. "In our sector, we felt it was a comparative injustice. Perhaps the hotel sector has already reached a balance between supply and demand, but we haven't. Controlled and legal supply is easier to monitor than illegal supply," insisted the president of AVAT.
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