Ibiza Town Council has sent the Balearic Islands Government Delegation an update on the report on the damage caused by storms Gabrielle and Alice, bringing the economic assessment to almost €29 million. According to a statement issued by the Town Council, the Mayor of Ibiza, Rafael Triguero, has insisted on the ‘urgent’ need for the Council of Ministers to declare the municipality a zone seriously affected by a civil protection emergency, a request submitted weeks ago and which ‘remains pending resolution despite the magnitude of the damage in the municipality’.
The update to the report sent this week to the Government Delegation includes the effects of both the ex-storm Gabrielle and the subsequent storm Alice, which have caused ‘significant damage’ to infrastructure, buildings and municipal services. The damage caused by the ex-hurricane to the environment, street cleaning, trees and lighting amounts to €3.8 million.
In educational centres, the damage caused by the two storms amounts to 140,000, and in shops in the municipality, around 9 million. On the beaches, the damage amounts to around 822,000. The mayor reiterated that the council has met all the deadlines, as all the necessary reports were prepared in just one week after Gabrielle, and the information has subsequently been updated with the damage caused by storm Alice.
“More than a month and a half after Gabrielle, Ibiza is still waiting for a response from the Council of Ministers. The damage is evident, it has been verified and the declaration of emergency is more than justified, so this measure is urgently needed, just as it has been granted to other municipalities in Spain,” said Triguero.
He also stressed that this declaration is “essential” to speed up financial aid and activate tax breaks that will ’alleviate” the situation of affected residents and businesses. For the mayor, ‘it is unreasonable’ that a resident who has lost their home or suffered considerable damage should have to pay property tax, and he stressed that in order to avoid ‘unfair situations’ such as this, the central government needs to declare a state of emergency as soon as possible.
‘The city has shown that it is prepared to manage the situation swiftly, but the power to activate these measures lies with the State,’ he said, adding that there is a ‘clear’ precedent in the Balearic Islands, namely the storm that affected Menorca in August 2024. ‘The municipalities affected received the declaration of a disaster area within a month of the request. Ibiza, on the other hand, has been waiting for more than a month and a half for the same resolution, despite suffering similar or even greater damage,’ lamented Triguero.