The Many Faces of Ibiza

As 20 years of acid house leaves its footprint in the sand of the White Isle, we ask what the future holds.

Ibiza is an island of many faces - such a small island seems to have so many facets to its personality. There’s the superclubs, which have dominated the island and the headlines for the past decade, attracting tourists from all over Europe and beyond, generating huge revenues whilst swamping the island with clubbers and producing a ready made market for drugs and excess. There’s the stereotyped Brits abroad; the trashy, drunken culture that have caused Ibizians to give San Antonio the nickname ‘The West End’ – and they don’t mean it as a compliment. There’s the spiritual face, the hippy roots, the ancient ley lines coursing under the island, and the spiritual nature of the islanders themselves. And finally the natural beauty of Ibiza – with large parts of the island preserved as world heritage sites, secret beaches like Atlantis hardly accessible by foot and set on some of the clearest, bluest waters of the Mediterranean.

Perhaps it was inevitable Ibiza would end up as a home for hedonism. Wild times and parties have been the stuff of Ibiza legend since 600 BC. Phoenician settlers founded a port in the Balearic Islands - named Ibossim after the Egyptian god Bes who was a symbol of the finer things in life like music, dance and sex. Later, they worshipped the goddess Tanit, associated with bringing out the excesses of human nature. Back in the 1960s, the last explosion of freedom, sexual liberation and expression before the acid house revolution 30 years later, hippies embraced the island onto the travelers trail on the way to and from India, many falling in love with the scenery and atmosphere and settling there. It had spiritual connotations for many who remained – many believe that the island of Es Vedrà viewed from Ibiza is the third most magnetic point on earth (after the North Pole and the Bermuda Triangle), with strange lights appearing in the sea at certain times of year, and a freedom not found elsewhere.

It was in the late 1980s that acid house was first played by DJs like Alfredo in clubs such as Amnesia, alongside equally new music from all over - baggy from Manchester, Chicago house, German techno, alongside underground disco and anything that made people dance. Londoners Paul Oakenfold and Danny Rampling were holidaying in 1987 and couldn’t quite believe what they were hearing, seeing and feeling in the clubs. Clive Henry, resident at DC10 first visited “as a fresh faced whippersnapper” in 1989. He says “I didn’t know what to expect other than hearing all the myths. I think what made it so special was the liberalness of the place. The atmosphere combined with some of the most amazing venues ever. In the earlier days most of the clubs were open air or half open air and you can’t really describe the feeling of watching the sun come up whilst dancing and listening to some unbelievable soundtrack.”

Ibiza’s reputation as a hippy island full of parties was always going to be attractive to tourists looking to party. Acid house came along at a time when Thatcher’s Britain had just gone through a decade of riots, strikes, and unemployment. The lure of house music, affordable holidays, a backdrop of sea and sun, and without police inventing laws to prohibit dancing, proved irresistible to the clubbers who started to descend en masse. The feeling that rave and acid house offered in the early days – freedom, friendship and respect amongst strangers whether rich or poor was epitomized by Ibiza, but, like back in Britain, it was only a matter of time before this would be commercialised. By the late 1990s the scene had exploded - club entry was expensive, drink prices ridiculous and Ibiza covered with loud, drunken tourists. Television programmes like Ibiza Uncovered exposed the ugly face of Ibiza to the mainstream, encouraging even more people to come and do the same. Sunburnt Brits could be found vomiting in the street, bed-hopping, and stag and hen parties became the norm. Hell, even The Sun newspaper started offering package holidays.

Cheap apartment buildings were springing up indiscriminately to accommodate even more tourists and residents were unhappy at the changes to their island. Millions of pounds changed hands during the 90s and early 2000s - how much of it directly benefited the islanders themselves is debatable. Helios, manager at The End was born and raised on Ibiza. “Currently many tourists buy an inclusive package – including drinks and food, so they don’t even spend their money on the island. The little they do have goes on overpriced drinks at the big clubs. So they are of no benefit to the island’s economy; 90% of their money is spent at the clubs, or within clubbing.”

The island’s government and the Spanish Tourist Office are keenly aware of the ‘sex, drugs and alcohol’ image that the package holidays bring, and in recent years have been working hard to try and counter it, promoting more high-end or family oriented tourism. To try and curtail the building of cheap, ugly 3-star hotels and as antidote to mass market tourism typical of San Antonio, new builds now must be 5-star. New developments include Aguas de Ibiza, a luxury spa facility 30 million-euro hotel overlooking Santa Eularia harbor, which aims to showcase ‘the other Ibiza’ and attract the rich looking for a luxury holiday in a beautiful setting.

Mark Broadbent first visited Ibiza in 1997 and has run the We Love… parties at Space for the last ten years. He’s unsure whether Ibiza can, or should, get rid of the budget tourist. “There seems to be room for every kind of tourist no matter their budget or requirements - and at the end of the day Ibiza has always catered to high-end tourism anyway - remember the stories in the early 80s about beauty queens and builders dancing side by side in Pacha!”. But as the clubbers of the 1990s are growing up, they are growing up to fit the Ibiza of the future, and the Ibiza that the government want to encourage - a few more euros in their pockets, less likely to want a mad, sleepless clubbing holiday with eight crammed into a ‘San An’ apartment, and instead want a villa in the hills, to explore the island itself, eat good food, get to know the locals and their culture. London underground party promoter Rob Star of Mulletover has been throwing parties in Ibiza for the last four years, and agrees. “A lot of people, myself included do want more than just parties” says Rob, “I love exploring the island - learning about the history, finding amazing tapas bars in remote villages…”

But there is another face of the island that the government are getting tough on – and that’s the parties and clubs themselves. New laws were introduced last year to change the White Isle’s approach to partying, banning music being played between 6am and before 6pm, to encourage families to return. While the clubbers and promoters understand the island’s drive to encourage more quality in new buildings and get tourists to engage with the island itself, they feel that these laws detract massively from Ibiza’s most important industry. Rob Star says “The reason I fell in love with the island in the first place was because the party never ended. I remember many times in the late 90s, early 2000s going to Space, DC10, Manumission, Bora Bora on some mad sessions. Then chilling out for the next few days at the beach and eating nice food. At that time, we didn't have 24 hour licensing in the UK, and it was great to go out all night and carry on for a few days - now the situation is reversed, we can go out 24-7 in London, but we have to be in bed by 7am in Ibiza!” Helios here at The End understandably has strong opinions about the crackdown. “The new laws have broken down the party culture, meaning there’s a gap of 12 hours where there are no clubs. Instead of partying at Space people will party in their hotel rooms, on the street, at the beach. Uncontrolled, with no security, no health services.”

And ironically, closing the clubs early seems to have made the island even less family-friendly – with the police seeing more illegal parties in villas or beaches than ever before. This year, the local councillors sat down with representatives from the clubs for the first time to talk together – with the focus now being on opening communication channels with the clubs, and focusing their energies on restricting the unlicensed illegal activity. However, DC10 is, at the time of writing, a casualty of the government’s crackdown – being forced to close for over a month, showing that they still mean business, despite the impact it will have on the tourist trade.

But despite the complaints from clubbers and promoters alike of the restrictions, some think that the clubs are their own worst enemies – and are beginning to price themselves out of the market. Clive Henry says “The drink and door prices are getting scandalous. A mate reckons he got charged 37 euros for a Herbias and brandy & coke in the VIP bar of a ‘big club’ (which shall remain nameless) last week! How can they expect people to pay those kind of prices? And the sad thing about it is the more they keep charging silly prices the less people can afford to come here and spend that kind of money, so they whack up the prices again cos they're not making the money they're used to. A never ending cycle. And with the current economic climate being pretty bleak everyone’s going to feel the financial downside at some point – so they should review they're pricing policies before it fucks them. “

Mark Broadbent also feels strongly about the prices in the clubs. ‘It’s just bloody stupid how much you have to pay for drinks in the clubs, short sighted and stupid, surely if the drinks are cheaper people will drink more and thus spend more in the end - simple economics! I think the entrance price at most venues is fair when you look at the line ups and how much the venues - Space anyway - spend each winter making the clubs look fantastic. There has already been a backlash against the bars in Ibiza town due to their pricing - people now drink at their villas or hotels before heading to the clubs.” Rob Star agrees. “The prices in Ibiza have always been high, but you were getting a quality product that was unrivalled across Europe. In my opinion that product is being down-graded by the draconian measures in the clubs - terraces closing, finishing times put back, stringent searches outside clubs etc. For me Berlin is the new clubbing capital of Europe.”

Ibiza is many things to many people, which has been part of its appeal. But it’s changing every year, being pulled in different directions by the aims of the government, the money to be made by promoters, and the differing demands of clubbers. Sharron Elkabas who promotes the MN2S parties on the island is philosophical that the different faces of the island are its real strength. “Ibiza will always be changing; the people who once saw it is a place for debauchery may now see it as a place to relax. The great thing about Ibiza is that variety is its essence. Where people move on and swap the parties for the sunsets, there will always be people who are fresh to the island with new ideas and concepts.” Steve Lawler has been resident at Space since 1995 and feels it’s a different place to the one he first discovered. “It’s a very different island today than it was - lots more rustic, a hippy island, that’s now being modernized with more roads and hotels. It’s a shame that it’s changing but Ibiza’s still an incredible place. Even San Antonio is supposed to look nicer these days.”

If you’ve never been to Ibiza, don’t let the cynics, the new laws, or programs like Ibiza Uncovered put you off. At its heart, Ibiza is an island of sun and sea, beauty and nature, with a unique vibe and party culture, and open minded, friendly people. As Steve Lawler puts it, “these changes won’t affect anything as much as people think, Ibiza is still amazing”. Even years of commercialisation on, you can still pick and choose your own Ibiza experience – and we defy you to visit and not feel that the ethos of the place is really special.

Our interviewees’ Ibiza plans this summer…

Rob Star: The main Mulletover party is on 20th September. The location and DJs are secret – for more info join the Mulletover mailing list at www.mulletover.co.uk

Mark Broadbent: We Love Space is celebrating its tenth season at Space, as well as 20 years of acid house.

Sharron Elkabas: MN2S is back at El Divino every Monday. Pre parties are at Savannah and they are hosting a new concept called Ibiza Live whereby all events will be streamed to 50 radio stations worldwide.

Steve Lawler will be continuing his Space residency all summer.

Clive Henry aims to keep people happy with his music and try and chill more!

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Published: 23/06/2008

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