‘Ibiza Winter Residents’: You couldn’t make it up!

  When Facebook was just a glint in Mark Zuckerberg’s eye could he have ever imagined the unstoppable train that he would unleash on the world for those wanting to share, to get things off their chest, those with a particular axe to grind and those with nothing better to do than surf social media all day whilst basking in the sun (that would be me then). Of all the social media groups and forums that I have joined and participated in, one is simply head and shoulders above the rest.

On a small island in a smallish sea there is a Facebook group called ‘Ibiza Winter Residents’ and I ask you, neigh beg you, to join it with the utmost urgency and become immersed in the weird and wonderful world of the Ibiza native: Those who love to share strange experiences, those who care more for animals than humans, no post is too sensitive for offensive remarks and those who can turn any gentle conversation into a slanging match. This group ensures that the term ‘pointless Ibiza question’ is now extinct. 

IWR has replaced the supermarket cafe with regards to recommendations, hearsay, conjecture, rumours and downright lies. Don’t take it too seriously and you will be amazed at the hourly posts and comments and I challenge you not to be doubled up with laughter on a daily basis. A word of caution though: Take this group too seriously and throw in a few bad comments about animals (especially cats) and you will have sworn enemies for life and an Ibiza Fatwa put on your head. 

Group admin Brian Beezwax told me “My friends were always asking for advice on how to do this or where to find that so a few years ago I decided to start writing it down in Ibiza Winter Residents whenever I had a little bit of success with Ibiza red tape, to give me something to refer to if I had to do the same thing again or if someone else asked. Thankfully it eventually started to catch on and other people started to share their experiences and advice too. Now in the space of a year the group has swelled from less than 3000 people to over 18,000 and we appear to have created a monster!”

Brian continues “There are lots of very different tribes on this island and Ibiza Winter Residents is one of the very few public spaces that they have to share. The odd verbal scrap is inevitable but most people seem to be able to look after themselves – at the end of the day it’s just words on a screen! Some people seem to think that the group should be heavily moderated like most forums on the internet but I’m adamant that it should remain lawless as it is – I think it’s important that there is a place where people are free to say whatever they like…….”

IWR reaches its target audience immediately (you’re probably reading this link now through it) and can be a fantastic source of information and a fact sharing site which can be very important on a small island but also no subject is too trivial and no comment is too gentle for it not to be misinterpreted by a diverse Ibiza population of different nationalities, backgrounds, languages and from contrasting social spheres. The group could almost have the sub heading ‘Lost in Translation’. 

Certain issues are no-go areas (cats again!) unless you are a true masochist and God forbid you suggest that the bus timetable in Santa Gertrudis isn’t good enough as this will unleash a tirade of ‘get back to your own country’ and ‘this isn’t London! ‘ type comments. I have even started using “IWR’s” as a collective term to describe a specific Ibiza demographic. 

Only Ibiza could give birth to this group and although some posts are cringeworthy and slightly mad it’s a fantastic medium for sharing first-person opinions and recommendations. I applaud it as a celebration of the islands dysfunctionality, and the strange thing is that I’m almost addicted to it so to all you IWR’s out there please keep on posting, ranting, swearing, informing, criticizing, praising, threatening, recommending, belittling, laughing and most of all championing our Island as I, for one, simply can’t get enough. MM

Author: Martin Makepeace

Englishman living and working in Ibiza since 1991. Entrepreneur with a passion for villas, boats, sunsets and San Antonio. Read my blogs, listen to my podcasts and catch me on Radio One Mallorca every Tuesday morning. View all posts by Martin Makepeace