IBIZA — An increase in tourism has become a double-edged sword for one of the biggest party destinations on the planet.

According to news.com.au, Ibiza, part of Spain’s Balearic Islands, is experiencing a surge in tourist arrivals, with March numbers indicating an approximate 50% hike from 2015. This spike in tourism is being attributed to young party revellers shunning other holiday spots like Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey in favour of ‘safer’ destinations like Portugal and Spain.

However, this isn’t entirely good news for Ibiza, which is having a difficult time accommodating the influx of tourists. Head of tourism Vicente Torres says the island is running out of drinkable water, not to mention experiencing problems with infrastructure, desalination plants, noise and pollution.

“Nowadays we have nearly 100,000 legal touristic beds and a registered population of 13,000 inhabitants, approximately. The island is just 572 square kilometres. We cannot support much more increase in tourism,” he said in an interview with Pulse Radio.

Travelweek previously reported back in March that Ibiza had plans to implement a new tourist tax this summer in a bid to control tourist numbers. This ‘sustainable tourism tax’ went into effect on July 1 and includes a $2.05 fee per night for luxury hotels and up-market apartments, and about 75 cents a night for camping and hostel stays.

Money raised from Ibiza’s tax went towards recovering areas that were unattended or spoiled by tourism, among other projects, Torres said.