San Antonio is facing some challenges over the next couple of years but a bright spot on the horizon is the resurgence of Eden Nightclub.
After the Gatecrasher debacle (where it closed half way through the season) plunged it to an all time low Eden has gradually clawed it’s way back up through hard work and realistic objectives.
It’s difficult to overstate how important a fully functioning world class nightclub is to San Antonio so Eden’s comeback is great news for the town and also for the young tourists who flock to the islands main gateway for 18-25’s.
Playa den Bossa has been the big opposition over the last few years but they are now facing their own challenges while Eden are reaping the rewards of their hard work.
The bright lights of Bossa has been a big draw with Bora Bora, Ushuaia, Space, Sankeys and all the other beach bars and in many ways Eden wasn’t seen as a viable alternative so the workers and tourists almost had no option but to go there for better parties but now that tide has turned.
Sankeys is under new ownership and struggling to find it’s place in the brutal Ibiza market (exactly as Eden had struggled 4 years previously), Hi’s strategy of targeting the ‘VIP’ market and Ushuaia’s over reliance on big EDM artists and production (a genre which is in decline) has left a gap in the market for San Antonio and specifically Eden to put on some old fashioned crowd pleasing parties.
Joining forces with Defected on Sunday nights has proved to be a defining moment although when it was announced back in early 2017 many didn’t quite know how it was going to pan out.
Eden and Defected had been traveling on different paths but came together at a great time for both sides. Defected had built up their brand but were running out of Ibiza options. They had done Pacha then went to Booom (remember that?), then they went to Ushuaia and Ushuaia Tower, they also had the terrace at Amnesia on Tuesdays and then they took a year out to weigh up their next move. Even though the Pacha years put them on the Ibiza map it was never their spiritual home, theres usually only one winner when dealing with Pacha.
While at Booom, licence problems forced Defected to stick there toe in San Antonio waters with a couple of one-off parties at Eden which were a roaring success but the club wasn’t a credible enough venue then unlike now.
Eyebrows were raised when Defected announced they would be doing Sundays at Eden but it’s turned out to be an inspired decision looking at the competition. Solomon at Pacha which is a sellout (and practically no guest list). Rumors at Destino is too far for San Antonio crowd, Blue Marlin is difficult to get to and expensive and Zoo Project and Ocean are daytime so the ‘party on crew’ will end up at Eden. Important to note that Cream at Hi hasn’t started yet but has gone totally EDM, so might not attract too many from San Antonio.
Eden is now under the ownership of Dutch businessmen Michael van de Kuit and Rinco Soesman with Dermot Condon proving a canny choice as general manager and through their vision and hard work the credibility issues are a thing of the past and they have managed to succeed in the phone camera generation.
For 2018 Eden have put together a dynamic package of nights that will appeal to all plus new laws will see the majority of bars in San Antonio close at 3am so Eden’s 6am licence should mean they pick up the local late trade especially with their reasonable door prices and worker friendly attitude.
All these little things are adding up so after a few tough years Eden is back where it belongs: on the top table of Ibiza clubs.
"MAN IN SAN AN" by Martin Makepeace 