Madrid to Ibiza distance

Madrid to Ibiza in a straight line

In a straight line, the shortest distance over the Earth’s surface, Madrid and Ibiza are 471 km (293 mi) apart. That’s the geodesic on the WGS84 ellipsoid, the distance “as the crow flies”. There’s no road between them: Ibiza is on the island of the same name, and the straight line crosses 149 km of sea.

From Madrid, Ibiza lies to the east (bearing 109°), and from Ibiza, Madrid lies to the west. The straight line reaches Ibiza on a bearing of 112°: the bearing keeps turning along the way (3° in all), which is why the shortest route looks curved on a flat map.

If the plane kept the same bearing all the way (111°, to the east), it would follow the rhumb line, the one that looks straight on a Mercator map: 471 km (293 mi), almost the same, because the trip is short.

What the route flies over

Under the straight line there are 149 km of sea (32%) and 322 km of land, over Spain.

Planes don’t follow the line exactly: they fly along airways, chase tailwinds and avoid closed airspace, but on long flights they stay close to it.

Halfway between Madrid and Ibiza

Halfway along the straight line, 236 km (146 mi) from each city, is the point 39.6915° N, 1.0990° W. It falls near Benagéber (Valencia, pop. 176), 1.8 km away. The nearest town of 20,000 people or more is Requena (Valencia, pop. 20,982), 22.7 km away.

By plane

A direct flight would take about 1 hr 5 min. That’s an estimate: 30 minutes for takeoff, climb, descent and landing, plus the 471 km straight line at 800 km/h (about 497 mph), a typical airliner cruising speed. Real schedules depend on wind, routing and airports, and not every pair has a direct flight.

The two cities

Ibiza is 1.5° farther south than Madrid and 5.1° farther east. Madrid sits at 645 m (2,116 ft) and Ibiza at 32 m (105 ft). Madrid has 3.5 million people and Ibiza 55,337 people (INE population register, January 1, 2025).