Ibiza beaches: parking regulation at Cala Bassa put on hold to protect natural area

The regularisation of the parking area at Cala Bassa has been delayed once again following objections raised by the Regional Ministry of Housing and Territory to the environmental impact report. The project must now be resubmitted to prevent it from “having significant effects on the environment”, as it is located within a protected area.

The Government’s resolution warns that there are parking areas at this beach that fall outside the scope of the current planning proposal, and also calls for a fire protection plan.

The owners of Cala Bassa Beach Club submitted the project in 2016 to regularise the parking area, which has been used for years as a paid car park. As the land is classified as an Area of Special Natural Interest, it requires approval from the regional government through an environmental assessment. According to the resolution issued by the Directorate-General for Environmental Assessment, published this week in the Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands (BOIB), the land would be levelled with gravel and low vegetation removed, while trees would be preserved.

Capacity of around 1,295 people

The project envisages regulating a parking area for 200 vehicles—six of them for drivers with reduced mobility—and 34 motorcycles on a 5,750-square-metre plot located at the entrance to the beach from the road.

Based on this layout, the estimated carrying capacity of the beach, which measures 6,500 square metres, is around 1,295 people, according to mapping from the Government’s Directorate-General for Territorial Planning. However, alongside this plot, other open areas among the vegetation have emerged due to traffic pressure, and these are not included in the project.

The proposal has already been processed by the Ibiza Council, whose Environmental Management department concluded that it “does not present significant impacts on the environmental reality of the area”. Even so, the Council’s report also warned that the space used for parking had expanded in recent years beyond the planned boundaries, as shown in aerial images.

“It is therefore considered necessary to determine the removal of other areas where unregulated parking currently exists within the same cadastral plot subject to environmental processing”, the Council stated.

New environmental assessment required

The environmental group Amics de la Terra raised similar concerns in its objections during the public consultation phase at the Council. “It is not possible to determine whether the parking area […] will increase or decrease vehicle capacity compared to the number of cars previously parked during peak tourist season, nor whether it will increase or reduce the current carrying capacity of the beach”, the organisation warned.

Ultimately, the Balearic Government has confirmed these concerns and is requiring the project to be redrafted and submitted to a full environmental impact assessment—a more rigorous and complex procedure—to ensure it does not harm the protected area. Until now, the process had followed a simplified route intended for projects with minimal environmental impact.

The Government’s resolution states that “the current condition of nearby parking areas must be explained in detail, along with the actions planned for these areas, which do not appear to be regulated, so that the relevant authorities can issue the appropriate reports”.

Among other requirements, the owners must also present a self-protection plan against forest fires, ensuring the conservation of existing habitats around the parking area. In addition, a geotechnical study must be carried out to rule out the risk of ground subsidence.

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