Despite the doubts that marked the start of the year—particularly due to the uncertainty of the geopolitical context—the tourist season in the Balearic Islands has been a success. With summer still lingering in the rearview mirror, the 2026 fiscal year is steadily heading toward a new all-time record for tourist arrivals and spending in the islands. Tourist spending, in any case, continues to grow at a rate three times that of visitor numbers. And the island of Ibiza is setting the pace in this overall surge in revenue.
The Pitiusas’ tourism offerings are known for embodying—perhaps more clearly than the rest of the archipelago—the leap in quality toward a product with higher added value that attracts a clientele with greater purchasing power. And for a culture of lifestyle and quality products that is associated with generally higher prices in a region that is, in turn, also smaller. This summer’s figures support this thesis: Ibiza and Formentera—analyzed together in data from the Balearic Institute of Statistics (IBESTAT)—recorded a year-over-year increase in tourism spending in August: 6.8%, nearly two percentage points more than Mallorca (5.1%) and more than nine percentage points higher than Menorca (which recorded a decline of -2.5%).
Likewise, since last May, the Pitiusas Islands have led the category of spending per person per day, which most accurately reflects the individual spending levels of visitors to the islands. Ibiza and Formentera set the pace during the four months of the high season analyzed, exceeding 243 euros per person per day in August (the last month for which spending figures are available). The peak, however, was recorded in July at 271 euros. Mallorca stood at 237 euros in July and 220 euros in August.
On the other hand, Ibiza and Formentera have combined these figures with occupancy rates that have remained virtually at last year’s levels—at least during the high season—which was the goal. The objective of growing during the low season while keeping growth in check during the middle months of the year seems increasingly within reach.
Occupancy Remains Under Control This Summer
That’s how hoteliers see it, as they give a positive assessment of the season as a whole. “Although occupancy in September was slightly below last year’s level, it has remained virtually stable and at high levels, and the cumulative figure for the season shows a slight improvement compared to 2025,” notes Santiago García, president of the Ibiza and Formentera Hotel Business Federation (FEHIF), who adds that “the trend this summer has been one of restraint: we’ve grown in revenue, while occupancy growth has moderated.”
Thus, the hotel industry in the Pitiusas Islands is approaching the end of the tourist season with moderate growth, but positive results on a cumulative basis. Between May and September, the average occupancy rate stood at 85.45%, compared to 84.73% in 2025, representing an improvement of 0.72 percentage points and 0.85%. This figure comes after a September in which hotel occupancy reached 86.45%, compared to 87.61% recorded in the same month of 2025. The result represents a decrease of 1.15 percentage points, equivalent to a change of -1.3%.
By island, Ibiza recorded an average occupancy rate of 86.90% in September, compared to 87.88% the previous year, representing a decrease of 0.98 percentage points. Formentera, meanwhile, reached an occupancy rate of 82.20%, compared to 84.38% in September 2025, a decrease of 2.18 percentage points. The regional analysis reveals uneven trends among the main tourist destinations. Santa Eulalia was the only area to see an improvement in occupancy compared to September 2025, with an increase of 0.72 percentage points, reaching 85.61%. In the other areas, the figures were lower than those for the same month of the previous year: Ibiza recorded a decrease of 0.79 points; Sant Antoni and the bay, by 1.90; the northern area, by 2.08; and Sant Josep, by 3.09 points.
These trends confirm a season marked more by stability than by growth in volume, in a context in which the sector has maintained high occupancy levels despite the slowdown seen in the final stretch of the summer. “Overall, the results are favorable, with a more subdued trend and no major increases in occupancy rates,” says García.
