There is a moment on the drive up from Jesús when the road turns and Dalt Vila appears below, the fortified old town rising out of the water with Formentera low on the horizon behind it. That view is the reason Can Furnet exists, and it is the reason people pay what they pay to live here.
This is one of the island’s established gated communities: villas on generous plots spread across a hillside, with controlled access and security around the clock, ten minutes from Ibiza Town and five from the only golf course on the island. It is not the newest address in Ibiza and it is not the most fashionable. What it offers is a combination that is genuinely difficult to find: the view, the security, the space, and proximity to town without being in it.
This guide is for buyers considering Can Furnet seriously, or weighing it against Cap Martinet, Talamanca or the other addresses around Ibiza Town. It covers where it sits and how daily life works, the villas and what is happening to them, the two questions that matter most on this island, licensing and tax, and the checks worth making before committing.
What Can Furnet actually is
Can Furnet is a private residential urbanisation on the hills above the village of Jesús, officially Nuestra Señora de Jesús, within the municipality of Santa Eulària des Riu. It sits inland and elevated rather than on the coast, which is central to understanding it.
Three things define the address.
It is genuinely gated. Access is controlled and there is security around the clock. In a market where “gated” is applied loosely to anything with a gate at the end of a drive, Can Furnet is one of the island’s small number of properly secured communities, and for a certain kind of owner that is the entire argument. For anyone who leaves a house empty for months at a time, or who values privacy for reasons beyond preference, it narrows the list considerably.
The outlook is the product. The hillside is oriented so that the better plots look south over the valley towards Dalt Vila, the Mediterranean and, on a clear day, Formentera. Ibiza has many houses with sea views. It has far fewer with this particular composition of old town, water and island, and the ones that have it are concentrated here and in a handful of neighbouring positions.
It is a community of individual villas, not a scheme. The houses sit on their own plots, commonly between around 900 and 1,600 square metres and some considerably larger, built at different times by different owners to different tastes. There is no architectural uniformity, no developer’s hand, and no shared pool or clubhouse. What you share is the perimeter, the security and the roads.
Where is Can Furnet
Can Furnet occupies the elevated ground between Jesús and the coast at Cap Martinet, north east of Ibiza Town.
Approximate drive times, worth testing yourself in August when the island’s roads bear no resemblance to the rest of the year:
– Jesús village, with its supermarkets, pharmacy, bakeries and restaurants: around 5 minutes
– Ibiza Town, Marina Botafoch and Talamanca beach: around 10 minutes
– Ibiza Golf Club at Roca Llisa, the island’s only golf course: around 5 minutes
– Cap Martinet and the coves below it: around 8 minutes
– Santa Eulària: around 15 minutes
– Ibiza airport: around 15 to 20 minutes
The position is the practical argument. You are close enough to Ibiza Town to go in for dinner without planning the evening around it, and far enough above it that the town’s summer intensity stays where it is. In August, when Marina Botafoch and the streets around it are at full volume, that distance is worth a great deal.
The honest caveat is that this is not a beachside address and should not be imagined as one. The sea is visible from most of the community and reachable in under ten minutes, but you drive to it. Buyers who want to walk out of the house onto the sand should be looking at Cap Martinet, Talamanca or the coast itself, and paying accordingly.
The second caveat is the hill. The approach roads are steep in places and the internal roads wind. That is what produces the view, but it is worth driving in the actual vehicle you intend to keep here, particularly if that vehicle is low.
The villas
The housing stock is the most important thing to understand about Can Furnet, and it is where the opportunity sits.
The community was developed across earlier decades, and a substantial proportion of the original villas reflect the Mediterranean idiom of their period: white or ochre render, tiled roofs, arches, terraces, compartmentalised interiors, and in some cases a distinctly Tuscan flavour that was fashionable when they were built. Many sit on excellent plots with mature planting and the best views in the community.
Alongside them sits a growing number of contemporary houses, either comprehensively rebuilt behind the original footprint or built new to current standards: open plan living, full height glazing, infinity pools positioned to frame Dalt Vila, guest houses, and the specification an international buyer expects today.
The gap between those two categories is wide, and it is the single most useful thing to grasp before you start viewing. An original villa on a superb plot and a finished contemporary house two streets away are both Can Furnet. They are entirely different purchases, in price, in what you would need to spend, and in how soon you could move in.
Plot sizes support substantial houses, and many properties include guest accommodation, which on this island is used more than owners expect. Pools are universal. The better positioned houses face south or south west, which matters both for sun and because that is the direction the view lies in.
The question that matters most here: the licence
On the Spanish mainland, whether a property can be let to holidaymakers is a detail. In Ibiza it can be a substantial component of value, and it is the first question a serious buyer should ask.
Tourist letting in the Balearics is tightly regulated, and the number of licences available has been constrained for years. The practical consequence is that a licence attached to a villa is a scarce and transferable asset, and that two otherwise comparable houses can differ markedly in price because one holds one and the other does not.
Some villas in Can Furnet are advertised with a tourist licence. Many are not. The gap between them is real money.
What this means in practice:
Never assume. A house that has been let in the past is not necessarily a house that may be let now, and a house in a community where others let is not necessarily licensed itself.
Verify the licence itself, not the claim. Your lawyer should confirm the registration, what it covers, the number of places authorised and whether it is current and transferable. This is not a formality.
Understand what it is worth to you. If you intend to let, a licence may be essential to your numbers. If you do not, you are potentially paying a premium for something you will not use, and a comparable unlicensed villa may represent considerably better value.
Expect the rules to keep moving. Balearic regulation on tourist letting has changed repeatedly and continues to be politically contested. Anything you are told about future availability should be treated as opinion rather than fact.
What it costs, and the tax nobody warns mainland buyers about
Asking prices in Can Furnet span a wide range, driven by position on the hill, the quality of the view, plot size and above all whether the house is original or finished. Contemporary villas with the full Dalt Vila outlook have been marketed in the region of €5 million, with original houses on good plots available well below that and the largest estates above it. Live listings are the only reliable guide, and we would rather give you current figures for what is genuinely available than a range that ages.
The part that catches buyers out, particularly those who have looked at property on the mainland first, is the transfer tax.
The Balearics apply the most progressive transfer tax scale in Spain. Rather than a single rate, ITP is charged in bands: 8% on the first €400,000, 9% to €600,000, 10% to €1 million, 12% to €2 million, and 13% on everything above €2 million.
Because the top band starts at €2 million, almost every purchase at Can Furnet reaches it. The effective rate at these levels:
| Purchase price | ITP payable | Effective rate |
| €2,000,000 | €210,000 | 10.5% |
| €3,000,000 | €340,000 | 11.3% |
| €5,000,000 | €600,000 | 12.0% |
| €7,000,000 | €860,000 | 12.3% |
Add notary, land registry and legal fees of roughly 1% to 2%, and the working budget is around 13% to 14% over the price.
For comparison, a resale at €5 million in Andalucía currently carries €350,000 in transfer tax. The same purchase in Ibiza carries €600,000. That €250,000 difference is not a detail, and it is the single most important number for anyone comparing the Balearics against the mainland.
A new build bought from a developer is taxed differently, at 10% VAT plus stamp duty, which in the Balearics is 1.5%. At the top of the market that treatment is actually more favourable than the ITP scale, which is the reverse of the position on the mainland and worth modelling properly rather than assuming.
Reduced rates exist for a first main residence, subject to a value threshold set per island, which for Ibiza and Formentera is substantially higher than for Mallorca and Menorca. At Can Furnet price levels they will not apply, but they are worth knowing about if you are also buying something smaller.
The cost of owning in Can Furnet
Beyond the purchase, budget for IBI, refuse charges, utilities, insurance and, for non resident owners, the annual non resident income tax, which applies whether or not you let the property.
The larger figure on a house like this is maintenance. A villa on a 1,200 square metre hillside plot with mature planting and a pool requires continuous attention, and the Ibiza summer is hard on gardens that are not properly irrigated. Pool plant, air conditioning, automation and water systems all need servicing. Staff costs on the island rose sharply through recent seasons and remain high.
There will also be a community contribution covering the security, the gates and the roads. Ask for the exact figure, what it covers and whether any major works have been approved, as you would anywhere.
One point specific to a hillside position: access for deliveries, contractors and larger vehicles is not always straightforward on narrow winding roads. If you are planning a renovation, raise it early, because it affects both cost and schedule.
Renovation in Can Furnet: where the value has been created
Can Furnet rewards the buyer willing to take on a project, for the same reason established communities everywhere do. The plots and the views cannot be improved. The houses can.
Buying an original villa in a strong position and rebuilding it properly is the route by which most of the value in this community has been created over the last decade. The arithmetic works because the gap between original and finished stock is wide and the underlying position is excellent.
Three things to establish before committing to that route.
What you are permitted to build. Ibiza’s planning framework is more restrictive than most mainland buyers expect, and what applies to a specific plot cannot be inferred from what a neighbour has built, which may predate current rules. Have the buildable area, footprint, height and setbacks confirmed in writing by an architect for that exact plot, before you buy.
What the works will really cost, and when they can happen. Construction costs on the island are high and skilled trades are stretched, particularly in spring as everyone races to finish before the season. Many communities and the municipality restrict noisy works during the summer months. A project that looks like six months on paper can become a year if it hits a summer shutdown. The sensible window is to start in autumn.
What is behind the surfaces. Older houses on this island hide their wear. Have a proper survey rather than relying on what you can see, and budget a contingency.
Who Can Furnet suits
It suits buyers who want the Dalt Vila and sea view, which is the thing that cannot be built, bought elsewhere or replicated. It suits buyers for whom security genuinely matters, whether because the house sits empty for part of the year or for reasons of privacy. It suits people who want space and a garden rather than a beachfront terrace. It suits families, given the proximity to Jesús and to the international schools around Ibiza Town. And it suits buyers with appetite for a rebuild, because that is where this community’s value is made.
It suits less well anyone who wants to walk to the beach or into a village, since this is a drive to everything. It suits less well buyers who want the rural, finca character of the island’s interior, which is a different Ibiza entirely. And it suits less well anyone uncomfortable with the purchase costs, which on this island are materially higher than on the mainland.
What to check before you commit
– The specific position on the hill, and exactly what the terrace faces. The difference between a full Dalt Vila outlook and a partial one is substantial, in price and in daily pleasure. View at the time of day you would actually use the terrace.
– The tourist licence, verified rather than asserted, if letting forms any part of your plan or your valuation.
– The planning position for the plot, in writing, if you intend to extend, rebuild or add a guest house.
– The legal status of what exists, confirmed by your own independent lawyer: licences, registration, and whether what stands on the ground matches the paperwork. On older Ibiza properties extended over the years, this is the check that most often turns something up.
– The community arrangements: the fee, what the security actually consists of, how visitor and contractor access is managed, and any approved works.
– Water. Supply and pressure vary across the island and matter more here than most buyers expect. Establish the arrangement for the specific house.
– The real running costs, from actual bills for a year rather than an estimate.
– Your own independent lawyer, acting for you alone and not introduced by the seller.
Frequently asked questions
Where exactly is Can Furnet?
On the hills above the village of Jesús, in the municipality of Santa Eulària des Riu, north east of Ibiza Town. Jesús is around five minutes away, Ibiza Town and Marina Botafoch around ten, and the airport fifteen to twenty.
Is Can Furnet really gated?
Yes. It is a private urbanisation with controlled access and 24 hour security, which is one of the principal reasons buyers choose it and relatively unusual on the island.
What are the views like?
The better plots look south over the valley to Dalt Vila, the Mediterranean and Formentera. Others look across the hillside or inland. All are described as having views, so establish what the specific terrace faces.
What kinds of property are there?
Detached villas on individual plots, typically between around 900 and 1,600 square metres and sometimes considerably larger, ranging from original Mediterranean houses of earlier decades to comprehensively rebuilt contemporary villas. Guest houses are common.
Can I let my villa to holidaymakers?
Only if it holds a valid tourist licence, which many do not. Licences in the Balearics are limited and tightly regulated, they attach to the property and they materially affect value. Verify the position for the specific house before counting on rental income.
How much tax do I pay when buying?
Balearic transfer tax is progressive, running from 8% to 13%, with the top band applying above €2 million. At Can Furnet price levels the effective rate is typically around 11% to 12%, and the working budget including fees is roughly 13% to 14% over the price.
Is it close to the beach?
Not walking distance. Talamanca, Cap Martinet and the coves below are five to ten minutes by car.
Is it a good investment?
The fundamentals are strong: a gated position, an outlook that cannot be reproduced and proximity to Ibiza Town. The clearest value creation has come from buying an original house in a good position and rebuilding it properly, and from licensed properties where letting income is part of the case.
Our view about Can Furnet
Can Furnet is not the address people name first when they talk about Ibiza, and that works in a buyer’s favour. The fashionable conversation on this island moves between the north, the west coast sunsets and whichever beach club has opened most recently. Meanwhile this hillside quietly offers the thing that is hardest to obtain: the view of Dalt Vila with the sea behind it, behind a gate, ten minutes from town.
What we would say to anyone considering it is the same thing we would say about any established community. Do not buy the address, buy the plot and the position. The difference between a south facing house with the full outlook and one a hundred metres away looking across the hillside is enormous, and both are sold as Can Furnet.
And before anything else, settle the two island specific questions: what the licence position is, and what the tax will actually be. Buyers arriving from the mainland routinely underestimate both, and both are knowable before you make an offer.
Discover Can Furnet
If you are considering buying here, the useful conversation is about specific houses rather than the community in general. We know which positions hold the real Dalt Vila view, which properties are realistic rebuild candidates and what that work involves on this island, and which villas carry a licence.
Get in touch and tell us how you would actually use the house, whether that is year round, summers, or letting it when you are not here. The answer changes which part of the hill we would show you.