Climate and seasonality
The winter in Ibiza, of Mediterranean type, proves deliciously soft since the temperatures are around 12 °C. It is precisely for this mildness that many Europeans have chosen to settle in the archipelago, the winter months being the most tranquil time. If the weather can sometimes seem unstable, the days are mostly sunny, clear and limpid. Beware, however, that the temperature drops in the evening and the nights can be quite chilly! Therefore, a jacket or coat is only necessary at nightfall. During the day, a simple sweater can do the trick in Ibiza. In February, the almond trees in Ibiza begin to bloom and the north of the island is covered in white and pink, especially in Santa Agnes de Corona.
Spring and autumn are very variable seasons, but this is when you can enjoy the most beautiful weeks of the year with perfect sunshine and ideal temperatures. There may be a few days of sporadic but heavy rain. It is rare that it rains for a whole day, but it can last for a long week at the time of the equinox. In spring, however, even under a stormy sky, it is not cold. When a thunderstorm comes, the temperature rises to 20/25°C immediately afterwards. The sun always manages to warm the air and dry the earth. Despite this impressive rainfall, the island, like the Iberian Peninsula, has been suffering from drought for several years. Lately, the rains have become more sporadic, less violent, and the drought in Ibiza, as in the rest of the Balearic Islands, has been greater than that of the so-called very dry regions of the peninsula.
Summer is the great tourist season and begins in June, sometimes in mid-May for those lucky enough to take a vacation at this early time. The weather is hot and the sun is shining. The sky is blue and the water is cool (about 25°C), but the beaches are quieter. In the evening, the temperature gets cooler and you can wear a little wool. The east or rising wind can blow. June is the beginning of the tourist invasion. Obviously it is hotter, sometimes even too hot, up to 40°C. Slippers and sun cream are your best allies.
Natural disasters in Ibiza
Although located in European latitudes, the Balearic archipelago is sometimes a victim of damage related to climate. This was the case in May 2011, when a huge forest fire broke out and covered several dozen hectares, requiring the evacuation of nearly a thousand inhabitants of eastern Ibiza. In total, no less than 1,500 hectares of vegetation went up in smoke during this episode, which has been called the largest fire in the island's history. The previous year, another fire had already destroyed 350 hectares of forest and almost blocked 1,200 people on a beach in Benirras. Other smaller fires followed in the following summers. This was particularly the case on the side of Sant Josep in 2016 or in the area of Sant Antony in August 2017, where the flames carried away just under 5 hectares of forest.
If fire is a problem, so is water: Ibiza knows from time to time rainfall such that the lives of people are disrupted! In August 2017, a storm hit the south of the island, causing power cuts, landslides, overflowing sewers and the sheer disappearance of the beach of Port des Torrent! In October of the following year, it was Majorca that suffered a storm. Storm that took nine people in its wake.
