Month: July 2020

On Saturday evening, with only a few hours notice, your UK government imposed new travel regulations for British tourists visiting Spain. This decision inconvenienced thousands (including a few of your own ministers) and has directly affected the livelihoods of many ‘hard working families’ (a phrase your government likes to use).

Then yesterday after previously exempting the Balearic Islands from the essential travel only list you double backed on yourself. You obviously did this as your previous decision to declare the Islands safe yet to apply the 14 day quarantine rule was a contradiction in terms so instead of looking at positive ways to solve this you took the easy option to ‘hide behind the science’ yet again.

Your justification for these knee-jerk reactions is to protect the health of your fellow country men, women and children. Although this is a noble sentiment it’s been falling on deaf ears for a long time as they have continually shown contempt for your guidelines by gathering on beaches and holding demonstrations. Even your own ‘colleague’ Dominic Cummins couldn’t follow the rules that he himself helped to write (even though his eyesight is OK to read them).

However let’s get back to Spain and your baffling decisions on Saturday and Monday. Spain needs UK tourism (nearly as much as you need catchphrases and slogans), it’s vital to the economy and is the lifeblood for many holiday resorts such as San Antonio where I’ve lived for nearly 30 years. We rely heavily on British tourism yet your actions finish the summer for many businesses who only started a few weeks ago after an extended lockdown.

But Boris above all else, here’s the really crazy thing, San Antonio is on a small island called Ibiza (you may have heard of it) and our contagion rate is amongst the lowest in Europe, in fact it’s a lot safer here than wandering around Asda in Wolverhampton so the justifications for your actions are simply not true. The Balearics is amongst the safest places in Europe and is full of international visitors enjoying the summer. Unlike the UK we have got our sh*t together (pardon the expression).

Seeing as your decisions seem to be made on the hoof and veer wildly from day to day I kindly ask that you use some common sense and develop an ‘air corridor’ between the UK and the Balearic Islands that will save livelihoods and allow many on our islands to get through a very long winter. It will also allow your fellow Brits to have a holiday here and after the last 5 months by George do they need it!

Thanks for reading Boris, let’s get this done!

Yours sincerely

Martin Makepeace

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Lots has been written over the last few years about the ‘New Ibiza’. The Ibiza that knows the cost of everything but the value of nothing. A place that has ‘VIP’ ingrained into its diminishing soul.

Then came Covid. When it comes to game-changers the Chinese flu (to paraphrase a president) has done more in 4 months than any politician has in 4 decades. It’s created a new Ibiza for this summer but one that might be a blueprint for the future.

Whether by accident or design (will leave that to the conspiracy theorists) Ibiza is now what many have longed to see – very few groups of youngsters, an international crowd of mainly families and mature groups idling the day away on the beach or by the pool then booking ‘expensive’ restaurants by night. Busy days followed by quiet nights, like a European Caribbean where the streets become empty by 1am.

The large groups of youths are few and far between, the nocturnal screaming and shouting is minimal, the super-clubs are closed and the bright lights of San Antonio’s West End have been switched off in a political manoeuvre that wouldn’t be out of place in a hammy Shakespearian play.

Is this the new Ibiza unfolding before our eyes? A not-so-secret agenda pushed through on the back of a global pandemic. Some businesses will not survive this crisis therefore changing the landscape forever.

The Ibiza lovers are here as they always are, nothing stands in their way when it comes to visiting but the mass tourism that we have become accustomed to isn’t and many residents are already on their knees unable to feed their families while the Spanish government is creaking under the debt of helping out these people.

If this is the new Ibiza then it will be a challenge to bring through the next generation of tourists. Those that will spend the next 30 years of their lives returning while spreading the word of an island paradise where hedonism, culture, natural beauty and a liberal attitude exist side by side. As any football team knows – you are only as good as your youth policy.

This Ibiza of 2020 is only catering to a market segment of an already saturated market, it’s resembling Menorca at the moment getting by on its natural beauty and amazing local food but it’s missing those unique selling points that differentiates it from the rest of the world and as any good salesperson will tell you, it’s the USP’s that make the difference with any product. Never underestimate the importance of choice and Ibiza has always had in in bucketloads….until this summer of course.

We should continue to count our lucky stars that Ibiza 2020 is actually happening. This summer’s version is lacking an edge that only a fully functioning White Isle can offer but still gives many a chance to recoup some losses and keep the momentum going for 2021.

Let’s enjoy this summer for what it is but also not lose sight of what made Ibiza so special in the first place. It’s inevitable that the island will change but that change should be organic and not driven by petty politics and point scoring. To use a couple of cliches…..be careful of what you wish for, the grass is not always greener on the other side.

It’s been a long few weeks on the White Isle. A stop/start kind of atmosphere where the locals continue to live in a peaceful paradise awaiting a surge of tourism that hasn’t yet materialised.

The international set is starting to arrive but the British have largely stayed away so far due to murky press sensationalism and a quarantine regime that has put fear into those who love to travel. Tour operators are beginning to re-start so we should start to see more people on the streets. It’s a thorny subject but the modern Ibiza needs mass tourism if it’s 150,000 inhabitants are to survive through a long winter.

Around the island, social distancing is being respected. Ibiza Town is busy (isn’t it always) the beaches are starting to fill, restaurants have waiting lists and Formentera is back to its glorious best – something we could have only dreamed about several weeks ago. It’s mainly the areas that rely on British tourism – San Antonio, San Antonio Bay and Playa den Bossa – that remain quiet as we approach mid July.

Now we have the new face mask protocol which is being spun by some as a major negative with local press reports even claiming that it’s causing holiday cancellations. Most excuses seem to convenient during this pandemic.

Masks are slightly uncomfortable but it is only a mask, it’s not restricting our freedom of movement. Personally I think it’s a fairly pointless exercise especially in the open air but if it’s the law and is backed up by science then we have a duty to pull together and do our bit. It will be for history to judge whether it was an over reaction but for now, I for one, will do what I’m told is good for the island and try to keep it as clean and healthy as possible.

A couple of months ago most of us in Spain were confined to our homes, unable to leave except for food and essentials. In deepest darkest April if you had said to me that Ibiza will be more or less fully open (except for the clubs) by early July but you will have to wear a face mask in public then I would have accepted it in a heartbeat.

Unfortunately in the social media world everything has become a problem, no cause is too small for the keyboard warriors to become abusive and no ground can ever be ceded. The small detail is debated to the nth degree yet the big picture is often missed. The big picture here is that Ibiza is finally open and is finding its feet in the new normal. The airport arrivals board continues to grow and the streets are becoming more vibrant.

As we hurtle towards August we can expect the island to get a lot busier but still with a chilled vibe rather than the usual madness (although there’s always a chance of that too – this is Ibiza after all). Some will like it and others might not but for now we should be thankful that flights are arriving again and we have the chance to salvage something from the summer.

There’s so much to be thankful for, Ibiza is probably more beautiful than ever and is slowly getting its confidence back and learning to function under the new guidelines. Too much negativity is being thrown in certain directions by those who seem to revel in delivering bad news.

It’s time to seize the moment and make the most of an opportunity we didn’t think we’d even get. Our only true enemy right now isn’t a piece of cloth to cover our nose and mouth it’s a short memory and realistic expectations.