Pedestrian areas, 8 kilometres of cycle lanes and coliving for young people: €15 million investment in the ‘Ibiza Habita’ plan

The Ibiza Town Council approved this morning, in an extraordinary session, the Integrated Action Plan for the city, known as ‘Ibiza Habita’. The plan has been submitted to the call for the allocation of the FEDER Financial Path for Integrated Action Plans of Local Entities, within the framework of sustainable urban development and funded by the European Regional Development Fund. The proposal received support from PP and Vox, while PSOE abstained.

The plan, an ambitious urban development programme, foresees an investment of nearly €15 million in the city between 2026 and 2029, of which almost €9 million (€8.97 million specifically) will come from European funds. Rubén Sousa, councillor for European Funds, stated that this is the largest funding line obtained in a single call by the Council and that the plan “addresses problems from the past and the present, but also from the future”, as it will be implemented until 2029.

This project, the only one alongside the proposal from Menorca to receive 100% of the requested funding, will be developed “with an investment distribution of 24.1% in 2026, 31.6% in 2027, 25% in 2028 and 18.3% in 2029”, Sousa explained.

Vox support with reservations

Vox supported the proposal, according to councillor Héctor Rubén Andrés, because it is “a comprehensive set of measures that must be approved as a whole, because if they were approved individually, we might not support some of them due to their links to Agenda 2030”. In this decision, “the benefits for local residents outweigh ideological considerations”, despite the party’s opposition to policies associated with environmentalism.

For socialist councillor Pep Tur, the document, “important for Ibiza’s society, should serve as a guide to shape a vision of the city, but in this case it hides significant contradictions” and contains “numerous errors”, already highlighted by his party when “in October 2024 the Ibiza Urban Agenda 2030 was approved in plenary, a key document” for the development of this Integrated Action Plan. “At that time, we already pointed out that it was a poorly constructed text, with numerous errors and a plan of action that, in many aspects, contradicted what was being done through real policies”, Tur stressed.

"Almost three years after they took office at this Town Hall, the city of Ibiza has fewer metres of cycle lanes than when they arrived"

Pep Tur

— PSOE councillor

Among these contradictions, Tur highlighted that although the plan claims to promote cycle lanes, “almost three years after they came to this Council, the city of Ibiza has fewer kilometres of cycle lanes than when they arrived, if we consider projects directly promoted by you”. He also argued that “the image intended to be conveyed regarding mobility does not align well with the planned large-scale car parks, which will only increase vehicle congestion in two neighbourhoods of the city”.

Even so, Tur acknowledged that it is an “important” document that the socialists “will study with great interest, as there are many aspects yet to be defined and that will need further debate through oversight motions”.

Four major projects

The aim of the Integrated Action Plan is to improve citizens’ quality of life “through sustainable infrastructure, urban regeneration, access to housing and social inclusion”. The objective is “to revitalise neighbourhoods and reduce socio-economic inequality, prioritising actions in areas with the greatest needs”, according to the document, which includes four major projects and a total of 15 actions to be carried out by 2029.

Within the sustainable mobility and urban regeneration block, the plan includes the construction of eight kilometres of cycle lanes across three sections in es Gorg, Sant Jordi-Perséfone and Can Cantó, as well as the renovation of Vara de Rey (its northern section and Vicente Cuervo street) and Parque Square. It also proposes the digitalisation of 30 small and medium-sized enterprises to boost local commerce and the regeneration of the pedestrian area and 126 metres of the ses Figueretes promenade “to improve accessibility and safety”, as well as the adaptation of the pedestrian area on Carles Roman Ferrer street.

It provides for the construction of eight kilometres of cycle paths across three sections in Es Gorg, Sant Jordi-Perséfone and Can Cantó, as well as the refurbishment of Vara de Rey.

In the housing block, the plan proposes “coliving for young people” in Dalt Vila by “changing the use of an existing facility to residential use and transforming a currently unused municipal space”; the renovation of two homes for social rent in Dalt Vila and two in sa Penya; and the construction of 15 homes for young people on Isidor Macabich avenue.

It also includes the refurbishment and adaptation of buildings for neighbourhood associations to create new multi-purpose spaces in Platja d’en Bossa and ses Figueretes, the construction of “an intergenerational park in Cas Serres”, the development of an inclusive sports area on Joan Carles I promenade, and the “renaturalisation of the city”, with the refurbishment of the multifunctional space Can Tomeu to “promote physical activity, coexistence and connection with nature”, along with the creation of more than 15,000 square metres of green areas and ecological corridors in spaces that currently lack vegetation and shade.

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