Ibiza has around 160,000 residents and a summer that adds many times that number. Underneath the season there is an island with its own language, its own farming families and sixty years of people who came for a while and never left.
Checked by the desk 2026-09-03
Quick answer
Ibiza has around 160,000 permanent residents, about 50,000 of them in Ibiza town, and Formentera adds about 12,000 more. Two languages are official, Catalan in its local variety called eivissenc and Spanish, while English, German and Italian are heard everywhere in summer. The island is three communities layered on top of each other: the payes farming families who were here first, the hippies who arrived in the 1960s and 1970s, and the large international population that came with tourism.
TL;DR
- Around 160,000 residents in Ibiza and about 12,000 in Formentera
- Catalan, in the local variety called eivissenc, and Spanish are both official
- The payes are the rural Ibizan families, and their villages, dress and dances are still alive
- The hippies arrived in the 1960s and 1970s and left the markets, the music and part of the island's image
- In summer the residents are joined by visitors and seasonal workers, and housing is the island's hardest problem
The island in numbers
| Fact | Ibiza and Formentera |
|---|---|
| Residents | Around 160,000 in Ibiza and about 12,000 in Formentera |
| Capital | Ibiza town, Eivissa in Catalan, around 50,000 people |
| Official languages | Catalan, in the local variety called eivissenc, and Spanish |
| Languages heard daily | English, German, Italian and many more in summer |
| Main towns | Ibiza town, Santa Eulalia, Sant Antoni, Sant Josep |
| Peak | July and August, when residents are heavily outnumbered |
The payes
Payes is the word for the country people of Ibiza, and for centuries they were the island. They lived in white cube houses scattered across the fields rather than in villages, walked to churches that doubled as fortresses against pirates, and built the dry stone terraces you still see under the pines. Their traditions survive in the village festivals, in the ball pages danced in the old dress and in the food of the inland restaurants. Sant Joan, Sant Carles, Santa Gertrudis and Sant Miquel are where you meet that Ibiza on a normal Sunday.
The hippies who stayed
In the 1960s and 1970s Ibiza filled with artists, musicians and people leaving the wars and the rules of their own countries behind. They rented empty fincas for very little, opened bars and markets and gave the island the reputation that the clubs later monetised. Some of them are still here and their grandchildren are islanders. The markets at Las Dalias in Sant Carles and Punta Arabi in Es Canar are what is left standing of that time, and in the morning they are still more village than souvenir.
The international island
Tourism turned Ibiza into one of the most international places in Spain. There are long standing German, British, Italian, Dutch and Argentine communities, whole streets that work in two or three languages, and children who switch between Catalan, Spanish and English without noticing. That is why service in a restaurant often starts in English by default and why no accent surprises anybody here.
What the season does
Between June and September the island receives many times its own population, and tens of thousands of seasonal workers arrive to serve it. Rents climb to summer levels, housing is the hardest problem on the island and by October half the people you met in August have gone home. That rhythm explains a lot: why coastal restaurants close in winter, why a plumber is impossible to find in July, and why islanders talk about June the way other places talk about spring.
How to be a good visitor
- A few words go a long way: bon dia in Catalan and buenos dias in Spanish both work
- The place names on the signs are the Catalan ones, so it is Sant Antoni rather than San Antonio
- Villages sleep at night, and a villa party in a farming valley is not a private matter
- Water is scarce in summer and the island asks visitors to treat it that way
- Book restaurants and beach beds instead of arriving in August and expecting space
Ask the desk
We are based here and answer in English and Spanish. Tell us on WhatsApp what you want from the island, the loud version or the quiet one, and we send the house, the car and the boat that fit.
We usually reply in minutes
Prefer to book instantly?
If you would rather not wait for a reply, these verified Ibiza experiences can be booked online right now.
Browse Ibiza experiencesFrequently asked questions
How many people live in Ibiza?
Around 160,000 permanent residents, about 50,000 of them in Ibiza town, plus about 12,000 in Formentera. In July and August visitors and seasonal workers multiply that figure, which is why the island feels like two different places in June and in August.
What language do people speak in Ibiza?
Catalan and Spanish are both official, and the local Catalan variety is called eivissenc. Most islanders move between the two without thinking about it. In tourism English is spoken everywhere, and German and Italian are common in the north and in Formentera.
Who are the payes of Ibiza?
The rural Ibizan families who farmed the island before tourism. They gave it the white cube houses, the dry stone terraces, the fortified churches and the food of the inland villages. Their festivals and the ball pages dance are still performed in Sant Miquel, Sant Joan and Santa Gertrudis.
Are there still hippies in Ibiza?
Some of the people who arrived in the 1960s and 1970s never left, and their families are islanders now. The clearest trace is the two markets, Las Dalias in Sant Carles and Punta Arabi in Es Canar, along with the drumming at Benirras on Sunday evenings.
Is Ibiza friendly to visitors?
Yes, and it has been receiving them for sixty years. The friction is with behaviour rather than with visitors: noise in farming valleys, wasting water in a dry summer and treating villages as an extension of the club. Everything else is met with the patience of a place that lives on this.
Do you need to speak Spanish in Ibiza?
No. English works in every hotel, restaurant, taxi and shop connected to tourism. A few words of Spanish or Catalan are appreciated in the inland villages, where the summer economy is thinner and the local language is the everyday one.
What happens in Ibiza in winter?
The island goes back to its residents. Most clubs, beach clubs and coastal restaurants close, the village restaurants carry the island and the population falls back to its own 160,000. It is the season for hiking, for the markets and for prices that look like another country.
Rentals we arrange on WhatsApp
Rent a villa in IbizaRent a house in FormenteraRent a car in Ibiza
More island guides
Is Ibiza a country?How to pronounce Ibiza12 best things to do in Ibiza
Written and kept up to date by the Ibiza Formentera Rent desk. We are an independent concierge, not an official agency. Prices are indicative and set by each provider. Spotted something out of date? Tell us on WhatsApp and we will fix it.