"Ibiza prices are for the multimillionaires who visit us. We cannot even afford to eat at home because the supermarket is expensive": readers hit out at the island’s prices

Do you think prices at Ibiza’s bars and restaurants have gone through the roof? Diario de Ibiza put the question to its Facebook followers after influencer Clara Rodríguez, one half of GorTeam, complained on social media that she had been charged €11 for a bottle of water and a coffee at a venue in Santa Gertrudis.

It was the same establishment where, last year, two women complained after being charged €26.20 for service, something that is completely prohibited in the Balearic Islands.

The responses offered a snapshot of how islanders are feeling about the cost of living: complaints, irony, resignation, comparisons with major European capitals and the occasional defence of the idea that, if you do not like the prices somewhere, you can always go elsewhere.

The dominant response was clear: yes, Ibiza has become expensive. Very expensive. That is the view of León Zavala, Cesar Giovanni Arguello Losada, Provi Canovas Galera, Emilio Garrido and Mecha De Benedetti.

Some readers could hardly believe the question even needed asking. Gabri Cantero described it as a “rhetorical question”, while Alfonso Fernández López replied: “Is that a trick question?”

Loreto Mayol resorted to irony before turning serious: “Prices through the roof? What nonsense... They have been for years. Many years. We went above the Spanish average a long time ago. It is outrageous!”

"Everything in Ibiza is through the roof"

The feeling that rising prices are not limited to restaurants and beach clubs appears throughout the comments.

Juan Marí Riera sums it up: “Everything in Ibiza is through the roof. They want to make a whole year’s profit in just a few months. It is impossible.”

Freddy Grinolfo Soledispa Santana points to supermarkets as an essential service where prices have become particularly high. Víctor Juan Riera says it is “especially bad at petrol stations”, while Noelia Velasco uses the debate to raise the island’s perennial problem: “And what about property prices? How are they looking? Does anyone know anywhere to rent?”

Maite Escandell Marí connects all of these issues in a single comment: “Prices are set for the multimillionaires who visit us. The rest of us have to eat at home — or not even that, because going to the supermarket is getting expensive too. Who knows where this is heading...”

Marga Roig talks about the disappearance of an everyday habit: “Restaurant prices have gone up so much you cannot afford to go every day any more. Not even every week! They are incredibly expensive.”

And José Torres Serra offers a familiar warning about Ibiza’s seasonal economy: “The problem is that as long as people keep paying, prices will not come down. Feast today, famine tomorrow.”

€4.30 for an Aquarius and €5 for a Coca-Cola

Among the more specific comments, Carolina Riquer Llobet shares a recent bill: “Absolutely. Yesterday at Bar Flotante in Talamanca: two cans of Aquarius, €8.60. €4.30 per can.”

Mischa Valencia compares Ibiza with other parts of Spain and recalls that the island has always been more expensive — but not to this extent.

“Most of the time, yes, compared with prices in Valencia, Alicante... Fifty years ago everything already cost twice as much because it had to be brought over from mainland Spain, but charging €5 for a small bottle of Coca-Cola in what used to be a beach bar in Santa Eulària and is now a restaurant...”

Pedro Mas Juan offers a more measured view, saying prices are “a bit expensive, as always”, but highlights drinks in particular: “What has really gone up a lot, as we all know, is alcoholic drinks.”

Juan Zaragoza provides one of the sharpest summaries of the debate: “A lot of the time they sell something mediocre at luxury prices.”

Along the same lines, Raúl O Rufo is rather less diplomatic: “For the rubbish they serve you, of course it is expensive.”

"For millionaires’ and ‘VIPs only'"

Several responses link Ibiza’s high prices to an island increasingly geared towards a very specific type of customer.

Isa Arribas jokes: “They are not through the roof, they are just for millionaires...”

Santi Ruiz sums it up in three words: “VIPs only.”

Óscar Flores adds: “They want to charge the same prices as the world’s major capitals, but Ibiza is not one.”

Perfecto Llorens, however, does compare Ibiza with those cities: “Prices are now the same as in any European capital: Vienna, Paris, London. That is what happens when you are the most fashionable island in the Mediterranean.”

In his experience, this also explains why many tourists now visit for “three or four days” rather than “seven or 14 days”, as they did a decade ago.

Pedro Pablo Artero Jiménez uses sarcasm to argue that prices will not correct themselves while everywhere remains full: “Everything is still too cheap. Just look at hotels running at over 90% occupancy, packed bar terraces, traffic jams just to see an eclipse...”

Jorge Retratista Martínez takes the irony even further: “Not at all, they should put prices up much more. Two-star hotels at €600 a night and upwards, salads at €70 or €80 minimum.”

He finishes by suggesting nightclub mixed drinks at “€100” and tables costing “€500 to €5,000”: “Enough of this low-cost tourism.”

Not everyone agrees that the situation is an outright disaster.

Anne Sernatingen offers a more practical view: “It depends where you go... And there are price lists. If I am not interested, I go somewhere else. There is plenty of choice. And I am certainly not rich. I work in a care home and come here twice a year on holiday.”

Antoine Solcal also points out that “there is plenty of choice”, while Anna Maria Ricco argues that Ibiza is not much more expensive “than many European cities”.

Luz Serra points to the culture of showing off: “There is something for everyone... But if you want to show off and pretend to be someone you are not, make sure you can afford it, rather than complaining afterwards and making yourself look ridiculous.”

Charles Bass rejects what he sees as alarmism: “People just need to travel more and stop with all the sensationalism...”

"It will all collapse one day"

Beyond the jokes, several comments reflect a feeling that Ibiza’s current model may be going too far.

José Carlos Pérez García describes prices as a “rip-off” and warns: “Then they say sales are down compared with previous years. It will all collapse one day.”

Juan Cardona agrees: “And then some... but the complaints will come eventually.”

Juandedios Bonillo Hernández frames it as a warning to the tourism industry: “At this rate nobody is going to come. They want to make a whole year’s earnings in one month.”

Steven Daniel Mazó Valdez believes the effects are already becoming visible: “Well, you can already see people have stopped going to certain areas.”