Each summer, José steers a €6 million Jaguar 72 yacht through the waters of Ibiza, responsible for the comfort and safety of wealthy clients, including business leaders and footballers. Yet when his workday ends, he steps off the deck and into a very different world: a €4,000 van parked just meters from the marina, his home for the entire season.
For José, the decision is practical, not romantic. Renting an apartment near the port would cost between €2,500 and €3,000 per month, an expense that could swallow up to half his annual income. Over a six-month contract, that adds up to €15,000 to €18,000, not counting deposits or utilities. "The pay is good," he admits, "but it makes little sense to spend half of it just to have a place to sleep." Instead, he has fitted his van with a mattress and storage for essentials, using it as a base while he works on the island.
Luxury at Sea, Simplicity on Land
During the day, José commands a vessel that rents for around €5,000 per day, excluding fuel. The contrast between his professional environment, with polished wood and leather seating, and his living quarters is stark. Panoramic sea views are replaced by the van’s mattress, which fills most of the cargo space, with clothes and medicines tucked underneath. After six years of this routine, he says the difference between the two worlds is "hard to compare," but the arrangement allows him to save enough to get through the winter months when work dries up.
Rental Pressures Hit All Professions
Ibiza’s housing market is notorious for its high prices. A single room in a shared flat can exceed €1,000 per month, with some listings reaching €1,300. One-bedroom apartments hover around €2,000, and properties near the marina can approach €3,000. The pressure is clear in the Consell Econòmic i Social de les Illes Balears’ 2025 reference salary: its estimate for a single person living in Ibiza was €41,944.89 for the year, up €7,359.23 from 2024. Housing and ordinary living expenses accounted for €27,392.73 of that annual budget, roughly two-thirds. These figures describe an overall cost-of-living estimate, not rent alone.
Government rental-reference data offer another measure of the strain: in one Ibiza municipal zone, the median reference rent was reported at €1,136 a month, equivalent to 75.7% of a €1,500 monthly income. The corresponding figure for Sant Josep was €1,000, or 66.7%. Separately, Instituto Nacional de Estadística indicators put estimated monthly rent expenditure for habitual residences at €1,211 in Sant Josep de sa Talaia and €1,163 in Santa Eulària des Riu in 2024. These are estimated expenditures, not advertised asking rents, and the municipal indicators cover only places meeting the relevant population threshold.
The island’s housing stock and visitor accommodation add to competition for homes. A technical assessment counted 78,930 dwellings. It identified 57,064 as basic residences and 21,849 as secondary residences. The assessment also reported 2,365 legally registered tourist dwellings and about 18,000 tourist places by December 2025. Those categories are distinct: the figures describe the scale of residential and tourist accommodation, but do not mean every second home or tourist dwelling would otherwise be available for long-term rent.
High costs affect workers well beyond yacht crews. Public-service workers, including doctors and teachers, also struggle to find affordable accommodation. The same is true of police officers and firefighters. Some workers, like a primary school teacher mentioned by Talent24h, commute from Mallorca by plane because they cannot afford to live on the island and maintain a home elsewhere.
Saving for the Off-Season
José is clear that living in a van is not a lifestyle choice but a financial strategy. "I stay here so I can get through the winter," he explains. With only half the year spent working, he must stretch his earnings to cover the months without income. The seasonal nature of employment compounds the housing burden: Fomento del Turismo de Ibiza has said the tourist season now lasts almost seven months and argued for extending it toward March and mid-November, linking longer activity to improved air connections. The gap between seasonal earnings and year-round housing costs is not unique to Ibiza; as noted in a recent analysis of Spain’s rural property market, housing costs are reshaping decisions for buyers and workers alike.
For now, José’s van remains parked by the port, a reminder that even people at the helm of luxury can face unconventional choices when housing costs rise.
