MAN IN SAN AN by Martin Makepeace

Part 2 – Privilege Ibiza 1994-2019: Manumission madness to closure

Early 1991 and the world is gripped by war in the Arabian Gulf.  Kuwait has been liberated but the global collateral damage still rumbles on. One of the main casualties is the European tourism industry with bookings massively down. 

In Ibiza, the biggest club in the world now has a roof due to noise restrictions and isn’t having a great time. The dynamic has changed and its hangar like interior takes thousands to fill and there’s not enough people around. Nobody realised at the time but this was the beginning of the end of the mythical Ku Club. It limped on for another year but closed its doors in 1992 and would not open again until 2 years later when a new name would appear on the enormous iconic dome. 

For summer 1994 the now renamed ‘Privilege Ibiza’ was about to open its doors. Tourism was back on track and a club night was about to take the island and the world by storm. Legendary promoters Paul Dennis and ‘Mad’ Tommy Mack were putting a Monday night together to go head to head with Mad Mondays at Pacha after another fallout with their partner Alan Warman.

Paul and Tommy had brought along brothers Andy and Mike McKay who were making a name for themselves on the Manchester scene and the night was called Manumission. As is the wont of club promotors, within a few weeks there would be a big fallout including fisticuffs between the four of them leaving the McKay brothers to go it alone. The rest, as they say, is history. 

1994 was the start of a new era, it had taken a few years but the penny had dropped for European club nights to come to Ibiza and create an experience that would catapult their brand into cyberspace. Ibiza’s club scene had been evolving since the mid 80’s and it was about to enter the era of the promoter. 

Privilege with its enormous 10,000 capacity and esteemed history was THE venue in world clubbing. Pacha was cooler, Amnesia was edgier and Space was an eclectic madhouse but if you could crack the biggest club in the world then sky was the limit. 

Summer 1994 in Privilege saw Manumission on Mondays joined by Cream on Thursdays. The Liverpool brand has jumped on the bandwagon and started filling out the club.  From closure the previous year, Privilege now had the 2 biggest nights on the island. 

Brands came and went but over the years Privilege unveiled new promotions that pushed the  boundaries. Renaissance started in 2000 which included live music and personal appearances by world famous artists such as Kylie Minogue, M People and many more. Privilege had come full circle and was at the top of its game again, conversely the roof had given it the crackling atmosphere that an open air venue could never have.

Manumission will go down as groundbreaking in Ibiza’s clubbing history taking Privilege to new levels, full of creativity and infamous shows. The world wanted a piece of the action and Manumission were happy to oblige.

From 1994 to 2016 even through the ebbs and flows, Privilege was still seen as the pinnacle of clubland, an iconic landmark on the Ibiza to San Antonio main road. Were there better clubs? Of course but the sheer size and magnificence of Privilege set it apart from the rest. 

Manumission, after putting the superclub back on the map, ran into problems with the owners (as often happens on the white isle) and petered out at the start of the new millennium but Privilege stayed relevant, putting on mega-parties such as SuperMartxe that ran from 2008 for over a decade. Radio 1 held many events there with Pete Tong leading the way and were always a sell out.

By the late noughties the era of the promoter had now given way to the era of the superstar DJ, their faces staring down at you from most of Ibizas advertising hoardings. The Tiesto residency in 2008 was massive and Resistance with Carl Cox and other top names was Privilege’s final big promotion in 2019.

It had been over 25 years of incredible parties but the Ibiza dynamic was radically changing. In reality Privilege’s business had been declining in the face of fierce competition, not least the rise of daytime venues, and the club was falling into disrepair with parts closed off by the local council due to safety issues.

Murmurs of a legal situation had surfaced in 2016 when the Matutes Group, owners of Ushuaia, who were also partners in Privilege had reportedly invoked a clause in the shareholders agreement to acquire the shares held by José María Etxaniz who was trying to sell his majority stake to a 3rd party.

In an ironic twist Sr Etxaniz had tried to get Balearic judges to close down Ushuaia citing ‘unfair competition’ arguing that the hotel had ‘a competitive advantage by violating laws’ and operating as a ‘de facto nightclub’ without the necessary licences. 

Once Etxaniz showed his hand with an intention to sell, the Matutes group went on the offensive and invoked a shareholder rule where they could buy Etxaniz’s shares in Privilege as long as they matched the asking price and this is where it all went a bit Pete Tong, to use a DJ analogy. 

The Matutes group disagreed with the asking price of 23.8 million euros so a court appointed auditor was ordered to value the club. In 2018, after much wrangling the Matutes group legally acquired the remaining shares to own the club outright for a rumoured amount of around 20 million euros but the court case didn’t end there as Etxaniz appealed to judges for a better payoff especially as the Pacha Group had changed hands a couple of years earlier for 350 million euros. 

While lawyers and judges were being kept busy the world was about to be gripped by a global pandemic that meant that’s Ibiza’s clubs, it’s most famous commodity, didn’t open for 2 years. By the time the clubs reopened the legalities of Privilege had been settled, the owners of Ushuaia and Hï Ibiza now had another massive project on their hands.

As an empty Privilege fell into further disrepair, the online rumour mill went into overdrive fuelled by saccharine voiced ‘content creators’. It wasn’t until autumn 2023 that the Matutes Group’s plans started to filter out when it was announced that Ibiza’s Tourism Planning Commission had given the green light to a renovation project with an initial investment of around 8.2 million euros for the rehabilitation and improvements in water circularity and solar energy. 

The world’s worst kept secret was out of the bag. The nightclub previously known as Ku and then Privilege was reopening but in what form? The Matutes Group were riding on the crest of a wave, Ushuaia and Hi were being internationally recognised as world leaders in entertainment so it didn’t take a genius to surmise that a new superclub would fit perfectly within their forward thinking strategy.

Fast forward to late summer 2024 and social media lights up with Hollywood ‘bad boy’ Will Smith on Privilege’s roof with The Night League’s (Ushuaia and Hï’) CEO Yann Pissenem announcing that UNVRS – the worlds first ‘hyper-club’ would be opening in 2025.

Part 3 – The Night League unveils UNVRS and Social Media goes into Meltdown.

Part 1 – The Ku Ibiza Years 1979-1993

Before Will Smith, dressed in scruffy pants on the roof, announced the opening of UNVRS Ibiza – the worlds first ‘hyper-club’, the outpouring of emotion for Ku/Privilege nightclub on social media whipped up by content creators and influencers had gone into overdrive. If you haven’t seen them then I strongly recommend you do.

Phoney AI American voiceovers, saccharine sweet statements pronouncing names incorrectly and the faux sincerities are something to behold – the ‘don’t believe what you see on social media’ trope had never been more true. In truth the worlds largest club (as previously verified by Guinness Records) is about to be taken into a whole different era by a company with a proven world class track record but before we get into that (part 3) let’s put some meat on the bone and get some context/history to the story.

Ku Club was iconic. One of life’s curiosities is how the world’s largest club became to be on a small Mediterranean island. It’s a story that catches the imagination and was in a big way responsible for putting Ibiza at the centre of the hedonistic world of 80s clubbing, so let’s start at the beginning.

The ‘club San Rafael’ morphed into Ku Ibiza (named after an Hawaiian God) in the late 70s when Spanish profesional Footballer Jose Santamaría teamed up with legendary promoter Brasilio Oliveira to exploit this open aired space by putting on edgy parties attracting the Bourgeois European crowd.

While Amnesia across the road was defining the Balearic beat that is still prevalent today, Ku focussed on the beautiful people with a polysexual ambience that drew in those that wanted to express themselves and more importantly have fun.

The old Ku photos from the 80s are spellbinding – look at these Facebook Pics for example – gorgeous well dressed people, transvestites, models, local bigwigs, pop stars, footballers, nobodies, hippies all coming together in a white hot cauldron of excess that defined the 80s.

Ku typified 80s excess, fashion and style but was largely unknown outside of the in-crowd where it was like drawing bees to the honeypot.

Then Ku went mainstream. In May 1987 an event took place that put the club and the island on the world map. To celebrate Olympic Games being awarded to Barcelona, local promotor Pino Sagliacchi fused together the 2 brands by staging ‘biza 92’ at Ku. So to celebrate Barcelona 92 an event took place in May 1987 called Ibiza 92 at Ku. Are you still with me?

Over 2 nights world renowned bands performed for an over excited crowd but more importantly it was filmed and televised all over the globe such was the power of the names involved. Duran Duran, Belinda Carlisle , Breathe, Robert Palmer , Spandau Ballet, Prefab Sprout, Natalie Cole plus a rare public appearance by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.

This was the height of the British pop takeover of the world so the names opened doors. In charge of the filming was a young, ambitious producer by the name of Janet Street Porter who was herself defining 80s youth culture in Margaret Thatchers new capitalist Britain.

If the first night was good then the 2nd night was breathtakingly iconic and would take the Ku Club into most British and European living rooms.

Queen’s Freddie Mercury still riding on a crest of a wave from Live Aid 2 years previously teamed up with world famous opera soprano Montserrat Caballe to perform and record the video for ‘Barcelona’ which would go on to become the anthem for the Olympic Games of 1992 and remains part of the Spanish psyche to the present day.

Today’s era is full of crossovers and collaborations but in the 80s it was a preposterous proposal to put these 2 together but it worked perfectly. The rich voice of Mercury and the haunting melody of Caballe blended perfectly together as they they stood together in evening dress surrounded by flowers and candles at the biggest club in the world. The song was a worldwide hit and when the video was played, Ku Club Ibiza in all its glorious and pompous beauty was beamed directly to to TVs all over the planet with presenters all to happy to fill in the blanks. Ku Club had gone mainstream.

But what goes up must come down and only 4 years later as the western world skirmished in the Iraqi desert the worlds biggest club was an empty hangar with little or no promotion and a shadow of its former self. The 80s bubble had burst and Ku was caught in the proverbial crossfire. Victim of its size as tourist numbers depleted. It’s hard to create an atmosphere with a thousand people in a club that holds 10 times that amount.

Then sailing in at sunset (well actually driving in an old transit van) came 2 brothers from Manchester who unknowingly were a about to rescue the worlds biggest club and put it on the map in a global way that Ibiza had never seen before, even in those so called 80s glory years

To be continued.

Part 2 – The Privilege Ibiza Years 1994-2019: Manumission madness to Closure

Part 3 – UNVRS Ibiza 2025: a whole new ball game

‘Let Food Be Thy Medicine and Medicine Be Thy Food’ – Hippocrates

HERE’S 50 IBIZA TASTE SENSATIONS TO TICK OFF YOUR LIST IN 2025

1. Getting giddy on a full bottle of HIERBAS left on the table or drinking FRIGOLA for “medicinal’ purposes only, local drinks that blow your socks off. 
2. Eating traditional deserts FLAO and BUÑOLES even though you’re full
3. Drinking a fruity GnT at CAFE MAMBO/MINT LOUNGE
4. Savouring the incredible tortilla at CAN COSMI, Santa Agnes
5. A piping hot mouthful of ARROZ DE MATANZA and a large plate SOFRIT PAGES – the ultimate comfort food at CA’S PAGÈS in San Carlos
6. Wandering down the restaurant street in SANTA EUALIA looking at all the menus
7. Drinking champagne and watching the fun unfold at O BEACH IBIZA
8. Enjoying a boozy night out with friends in the WEST END
9. Drinking rum and coke at Hï IBIZA
10. Eating a juicy steak at CAN PILOT, San Rafael
11. Taking friends to the amazing SA CAPELLA restaurant in an old church for the first time
12. Sipping drinks and admiring the views at BLUE MARLIN
13. Eating TRADITIONAL FOOD in a neighbours garage on a wet winter Sunday
14. Nasi Goreng in double quick time at RITA’S CANTINA
15. Tapas served with a smile at RINCON DE PEPE
16. Smelling freshly baked pastries  at CROISSANT SHOW
17. Drinking home made VINO PAYES in the winter and waking up the next day with a thick head
18. Small scrummy plates or food on low stools at BAR COSTA in the square at SANTA GERTRUDIS
19. Buying a drink at a SUPER CLUB and saying “sorry, how much”. 
20. LONG WINTER LUNCHES that go on for hours
21. Eating lobster paella washed down with cava sangria at CALA BASSA BEACH CLUB
22. Watching LIVE MUSIC in a local bar drinking a cheap caña
23. Going to LIO every 2 years then talking about the bill for 2 years.
24. Eating a FISH GRILL on wooden chairs listening to waves at CAN PUJOL
25. Enjoying a peaceful lunch in the square at SAN FRANCISCO, Formentera
26. Drinking CAFE CALETA after a delicious lunch at Sa Caleta
27. Going out for a QUICK DRINK and getting back at 7am
28. Eating a superb MENU DEL DIA with friends at TABERNA CEBO for a little over a tenner. 
29. A very fulfilling Sunday lunch at PIKES and then staying for the carry on
30. Picking the bones out of a delicious BULLIT DE PEIX at Cala Mastella
31. Huge portions of tapas at KAIXO in Ibiza Town
32. Savouring a glass of LOCAL VINO and a slice of bread and SOBRASADA from the pop up huts for 2 euros
33. Drinking CAN RICH or IBIZKUS – wine from the island 
34. Being invited to a ‘DRINK ON THE HOUSE’ after a good meal (see point 1)
35. Buying a fresh T-bone steak from CARNES MARCH
36. Scoffing a full English breakfast with a hangover at FATSO’S in San Antonio 
37. Drinking a spicy Bloody Mary then savouring a scrumptious Sunday lunch at RELISH
38. Eating freshly prepared food at CASA THAI San Antonio
39. Watching Jim make an incredible GnT at PARADISE LOST BAR in D’alt Vila
40. Having an ‘extended’ lunch at TROPICANA on CALA JONDAL beach
41. Doing the Conga around BESO BEACH after a boozy lunch
42. Eating delicious GELATO ICE CREAM on Vara de Rey in Ibiza Town or next to the church in San Antonio on a warm summers night
43. Ice cold strawberry daiquiris in the sunshine at CALA ESCONDIDO 
44. Savouring the freshest fish at the FISH SHACK in Talamanca
45. Eating delicious food at ‘TAPAS’ in San Antonio
46. Having an expensive lunch at JUAN Y ANDREA and remembering when it used to be a shack on the beach
47. Eating a delicious PIZZA at untold amount of places  
48. Sitting on the rocks watching the SUNSET with a can of beer from LIDL
49. Stuffing 12 grapes in your mouth and making 12 wishes at the stroke of midnight on NEW YEARS EVE
50. Sharing these special moments with family and friends

Happy New Year!

A couple of weeks ago I was in Benidorm for our annual Ibiza Cricket Club tour where the town was celebrating its fiesta week. The closing event is arguably the biggest fancy dress party in Europe where tens of thousands of people take to the streets in varying qualities of costumes to drink and be merry. The atmosphere is fantastic with a feel good feeling throughout. 

One of the reasons I love visiting Benidorm is because it’s the polar opposite of Ibiza, it’s one of the the least pretentious places you’ll ever visit. It’s big and in your face with massive hotels at every turn, everything is focused on tourism. It’s great value for money, in the main bars it’s 3 euros for a big bottle of beer, 2 euros for a bottle of water, 5 euros for a Guinness, 5 for a GnT. 

When you eat, the portions are generous, the service is usually informed and excellent and Benidorm old town has superb tapas restaurants equal to anywhere I’ve visited in Spain.

Benidorm is a great example of why competition is healthy. So many places offering similar services so prices are competitive with your next door neighbour, otherwise you will struggle. It’s an unashamedly price driven destination and it doesn’t hide it, compared to Ibiza it’s great value for money. It’s not to everyone’s taste but then again neither is Ibiza but Benidorm knows its market and focuses on that. It doesn’t try to be something it’s not and is all the better for it. 

During Benidorm’s big fancy dress party a few said to me that it would be great if Ibiza did something similar but I couldn’t disagree any more. Ibiza doesn’t want or need this type of business. I hate to use the C word but cheaper tourism isn’t something Ibiza should covet. Like Benidorm and other destinations the White Isle has positioned itself in the marketplace but as an up-market destination where things are ‘reassuringly expensive’. This might annoy some of the old school who still wear rose tinted glasses from the 70s but the numbers don’t lie, Ibiza has been booming for over a decade.

Of course ‘reassuringly expensive’ is OK as long as you can back it up with quality and service and those businesses in Ibiza that rip people off should be called out and this is when social media comes in very handy, a bad business has nowhere to hide these days. 

Ibiza has world class bars, restaurants, nightclubs and beach clubs run by some of the best entrepreneurs in the world. They don’t do it for charity, they do it to succeed and in turn make money. This is good business for everyone because if they aren’t as good as they think they are then they are quickly found out and the next one moves in. There’s always a few charlatans in the mix looking for a quick buck but Ibiza tends to spit them out.

Short haul tourism is constantly evolving and the the biggest challenge Ibiza businesses face is that the ‘herd’ now come over for a only a few nights and try to cram in as much as possible, most of it pre-planned and paid for so if your name is not on the social media driven must-do list then you need to fight even harder to survive but if you can succeed then the spoils are more than worth the effort. Many small Ibiza acorns are now flourishing oak trees. 

When you book to go to Benidorm you know exactly what you get and it’s the same for Ibiza. Two completely distinct destinations speaking the same language but in entirely different ways and united in their desire to succeed and keep their clients happy.

Benidorm and Ibiza are the same in many ways but entirely different in others, and like the big Beni fancy dress party, this should be celebrated.

Food, like many things goes through fads and fashions – haute cuisine, nouvelle cuisine – but there are a few dishes that are timeless and never go out of fashion.

Unlike our European cousins, namely the French, Italians and Spanish, us Brits aren’t well known for our high level of food sophistication however 1 dish seems to always stand the tests of time (and I ain’t taking about fish and chips!). 

The traditional Sunday roast conjures up a thousand memories, growing up it’s what Sundays are made of. Mine are of my Mum slaving over a hot stove preparing the full works only for me and my brother to moan and my Dad in his element savouring every mouthful before falling asleep in his armchair with a Sunday movie playing in the background. Like many things, roast dinners are wasted on the young, it takes a few years of maturity to fully grasp how delicious they are but get there I did. 

Therefore it pleases me to report that the traditional Sunday roast is the new Ibiza winter ‘battleground’ for a local hospitality industry looking to capitalise on a growing captive market.

Charlie Chester, that wily old dog, caught the scent early and last winter his Wow Sundays became very popular as it mixed food with Jo Mills’ fun Escucha brand and it became an all day Sunday party for island people.. This winter he’s transferred the same concept to The Standard in Ibiza Town and if there’s a better placed venue on the island then I don’t know where it is. It’s early days but by all accounts it’s been another rip roaring success.

During the summer Pikes, the famous rock n roll hotel, offered a superb Sunday roast and as afternoon became evening and then night the party stayed right there fuelled by its delicious food. Relish in San Antonio Bay does an excellent roast in the summer and also a bloody mean Bloody Mary, ideal bedfellows and comfort food after an excessive Saturday night. Even Cafe Mambo started offering it towards the end of summer!

This winter Taberna Cebo continues to offer the Sunday roast experience courtesy of their experienced British chef Spike. Big portions of steaming hot veg and a choice of meats in a lively local surrounding is a winner and usually sells out every week. Vitamin Sea down the road from Cebo also offers high quality weekend food and Project Social in Santa Eulalia is always good fayre and their Sunday roast is no different garnering great reviews.

Can Mimosa in Santa Gertrudis comes highly recommended as does Roto in Ibiza Town and now Smoke in Cala Llonga (from the same owners of Shanti) have added to the growing list of Sunday roast lunch providers with a tasty menu that promises to be very popular.

I’m sure there’s plenty more out there and it’s good news for your Sunday lunch options for when a paella doesn’t quite tick the boxes but a full traditional roast does. It signals the way Ibiza is going with a growing and more discerning expat population looking for quality family fayre in the winter and personally I’m all in!

1. Ibiza Summer 24 was good for a few but tough for many. After the post pandemic, champagne popping boom we had the inevitable lull in proceedings (when the whole world realised they didn’t have to cram everything into a few months) and while the big businesses continued to flourish the secondary businesses continued to struggle. The average stay is getting shorter so tourists pre-plan to the last detail and can only cram in a finite number of experiences which is great if your business is on that particular list but not so good if it ain’t. Word of the season from business owners is ‘Rollercoaster’. From midweek with no one about and not much to do to packed weekends with not enough staff and unable to accommodate everyone. The current Ibiza business model can be bewildering. 

2. UNVRS will have a big effect on Ibiza’s clubland. In an already busy marketplace the world’s first ‘HYPERCLUB’ (who knew that was even a word) is set to open in May 2025 and the ripples will be felt far and wide. The mythical nightclub formerly known as Ku and then Privilege is having a 40 million euros facelift and with its new 8000 capacity The Night League will want to make a real statement after creating Ushuaia and Hï from a blank page and taking them into the upper echelons of world clubbing. This is TNL’s CEO Yann Pissenem’s legacy right here  – the biggest club in the world on the biggest party island in the world. It doesn’t get any bigger than this but the fallout could be spectacular for some. Look at the businesses that withered and died after Ushuaia changed the game in 2010. (Apologies for the overuse of the word BIG but this is…BIG).

3. Has the Ibiza housing crisis peaked? After almost a decade of this issue staring them squarely in the face, the local and regional governments are finally getting busy and bringing in new legislation to help with housing. Nothing will change overnight (when does it ever in Ibiza) but there seems to be a general acknowledgment that things can’t continue as they are with waste grounds and shorelines being converted into caravan parks and shanty towns popping up all over the island. It’s as bad as it’s ever been, the desire to live in Ibiza is as strong as ever but when nurses, doctors and police are leaving in droves citing housing issues then the situation is untenable and that’s where we’re at.

4. Ibiza’s continuing marginalisation of kids and families. It’s strange to think that Ibiza used to be the archetypal family resort. ‘Fiestaland’ in Playa den Bossa which included Ushuaia, Ushuaia Tower, Hard Rock Hotel and the Hotel Bahamas (before they were all renamed of course) plus Aguamar waterpark (remember that?) was a nirvana for those beautiful little ankle biters but this is now just a hazy, distant memory as Ibiza continues to worship at the church of disposable income. The new business model is solely lazered in on adults with cold hard cash to burn who come for a few days (so you don’t even have to be nice to them for too long). If you are a family then there’s a few all inclusive complexes scattered around the island at eye watering prices that are full to the rafters with screaming kids so while Mallorca doubles down trying to attract a family audience, Ibiza continues to distance itself from those pesky kids who get in the way of their parents waving their phones in the air and dining out at swanky overpriced restaurants and posting it all on social media.

5. Tourismophobia is an actual thing. Never mind that tourism is responsible for almost all of Ibiza’s economy and in 2020 we all saw exactly what happens when it’s taken away, the mass gatherings on the streets have started, mirroring those that have being taking place in other Spanish hotspots such as the Canary Islands. For now the ‘demands’ are quite reasonable such as limiting private jets (why not), banning large cruise boats (hell yeah), ending the commercialisation of beaches (err maybe but who’s going to bring me my 25 euro mojito?), restricting vehicles and improving public transport (yes please). However you get the feeling that this is only the tip of the iceberg with the real radicals waiting in the wings to stir the pot and call for a complete tourism ban so we can resurrect the salt industry. Whatever way you look at it, something has got to give and incidentally exactly where is all that tourist tax money being spent?

Honourable Mentions

•Cars may soon become a luxury item if the proposed clamp down (see what I did there) on excess vehicles comes to fruition so DON’T sell that clapped out old Ford Fiesta!

•Don’t wear an expensive watch on the island especially if you’re driving to a well known restaurant in an expensive car otherwise you might as well put a flashing sign on your head to alert potential thieves.

•Don’t complain to the chef about your food otherwise you might end up in hospital.

•Don’t get involved with any island documentaries that promise to show the ‘real Ibiza’, they will end up focussing almost entirely on drugs (ad nauseam).

•Waving your phone in the air whilst filming the next ‘big’ DJ (insert name here) will become compulsory in some venues in 2025 whilst others may have the foresight to ban them totally.

Summer 2024 – that’s all folks!

Listen to my Man In San An PODCAST on Apple or Spotify. ‘My Ibiza Journey’ with Island people talking about their Ibiza experiences plus the new ‘Talking Balearics’ with Richie Prior, a weekly current affairs programme covering the latest news from the Balearic archipelago.

LISTEN ON APPLE PODACSTS

LISTEN ON SPOTIFY

Around 1200 people came together in late September under the banner of ‘Canviem el Rumb’ or ‘Let’s change Course’ to give it an English translation. 

In a change to the more radical protests and anti tourist sentiment the platform came together to call for limits on Ibiza’s current tourism model and action against the social and ecological crisis that has accelerated in recent years. 

The protest group point to problems such as beach overcrowding, potential droughts and criticising local government for continuing to allow unrestricted watering of tropical gardens in luxury houses, the building of luxury villas with swimming pools and using water reserves on tourist facilities. They also attacked the simultaneous arrival of cruise ships, mega yachts and private jets.

Their manifesto also focussed on the Ibiza housing crisis pointing at workers living in tents and those who have had to leave the island due to difficulties of finding reasonably priced housing. “For many years we have been told that tourism generated wealth, prosperity and progress. But after so many seasons of record tourist arrivals, where is that wealth?” they ask. 

The platform considers that it still possible to “get the situation back on track” making a series of requests such as limiting the arrival of aeroplanes at Ibiza’s airport, prohibiting or setting limits on private jets, cruise ships and mega yachts. 

They also demanded limits on rental vehicles and improving public transport. Among their proposals is the more polarising request to restrict the purchase of houses by non-residents plus a call to end the privatisation and commercialisation of beaches, regulating rental prices and ensuring that infrastructure such as roads “are paid for by tourism” as well as putting an end to the tourist promotion of Ibiza and Formentera using public money.

“The decrease in tourism is a demand that we make to the administrations, but it is also a brave commitment that we must make together,” they stated in the manifesto. “This current model is beginning to collapse,” they concluded.

The pressure is now on Balearic law makers to try to navigate their way through rocky waters where there is a continuing discontent to the White Isles direction of travel and where disparities are only getting wider.

As the summer season draws to a close and the island becomes quieter it’s a good time to reflect on the way forward but what is clear is that these types of protests will only become more frequent if new legislation isn’t brought in or the perception of tourists first and residents second isn’t addressed at some level.

Happy September!

I’ve been reading through a few Ibiza forums of late and the outrage from a certain segment shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. Clickbait posts and blogs (I know that’s a bit rich coming from me) about the modern day Ibiza with faux shock and horror. 

Too expensive! VIP culture! Overpriced restaurants! RIP-off services! Housing crisis! 

It’s all relative but it’s worth reminding ourselves of the reality rather than perception, which can be very different. 

Ibiza can be expensive. It’s had over a decade of incredible growth and as a tourist destination it’s expensive next to Turkey but cheap next to Monte Carlo so where’s the barometer start & finish exactly? There’s been a boom over the last 15 years and prices have increased exponentially but the island was undervalued for many years which was part of its charm. It was gloriously hippy chic and you could live on the island for relatively little money. 

But that was then and this is now. The market changed around 2010 and the new religion of social media meant that all the myths and secrets weren’t so secret anymore. Ibiza opened up to the world and sold its soul to the god of money. Truth be told, it had been doing it for decades but the market pushed up prices to levels that the older ibicencan generation could only have dreamed of, the spoils became bigger.

But here’s the rub. Ibiza’s perennial secret is reinventing itself when it has to so if the 5 star VIP market dries up then you can be rest assured that things will change ‘pronto’. It always takes a couple of years to drip through and readjust but it will happen if it needs to, as sure as as night follows day. 

Overpriced restaurants? Absolutely but that’s a mark of a world class destination and what is ‘overpriced’ anyway? Some of the finest gastronomy can be found on the white isle these days but guess what, you don’t have to go there. You can easily go to a local restaurant and eat delicious food for a fraction of the price. Delicious Paella and bottle of wine for less than €50 is easy to find if you don’t follow the herd.

Also let’s not forget that Spain is one of the cheaper places in Europe for a trolley full of food from the supermarket.

Ask yourself a question. Why do so many people want to live on the island? There’s jobs all over Spain, all over Europe yet the workers want here. I’d hazard a guess and say that one of the main reasons is that Ibiza affords a way of life that is difficult to compare. There’s no life like island life

Anyway, I digress. Of all the negatives I read online there’s only one that is truly important, the rest is manageable and market driven. The lack of housing for essential workers is now at crisis point. The big companies have a duty to house their own staff, it’s on them but nurses, doctors and teachers aren’t as lucky. 

Make no mistake. The rest is just petty griping with a bit of jealousy thrown in but when the person who’s job it is to save lives can’t find or afford to live on the island then we are all in trouble, as you never know, it could be you or your loved ones who have to pay the consequences. 

I wrote about the housing crisis 7 years ago and I’m sad to say that across 2 separate island governments nothing has changed, it’s as bad as it’s ever been and videos of tent villages and rows of camper vans only confirm a major problem that is growing fast.

So when you are reading those click bait forums that offer only problems and no solutions understand that, like anywhere, Ibiza has its challenges and is not to everyone’s liking but when the push comes to shove there’s only one real problem that needs urgent attention. The rest is just garnish. 

When the dust settles on Ibiza summer 2024, barring a September miracle, the records will show that it didn’t quite go as planned.

After the post pandemic boom it hasn’t been a bust but it has been a reality check. After 2 years of record breaking numbers, this summer has flattered to deceive. The usual blue chip businesses are busy as usual (just look on social media) but the rest are fighting over the scraps. In all truth, if you scratch away at the surface, it’s been a struggle for many businesses to survive.

The Ibiza way of ‘stack it high and….keep pushing up the prices’ has become tiresome for a generation of island lovers who now look to Turkey and the east Mediterranean for their annual fix of fun in the sun at a price where they don’t have to sell a kidney to pay the bill.

Whereas before there was a conveyor belt of youngsters ready to fill the gap, the entry level tourists have become more difficult to attract due to high prices and a perception that Ibiza has sold its soul in return for pure profit.

If this market is dwindling then it’s more important than ever to work with what we have and make sure they return. The historical Ibiza way of making money while not overly focussing on customer service is wearing thin. Even the top end is growing weary of it, bookings at the expensive restaurants are being replaced by local eateries offering good service.

Ibiza is top of the tree in so many ways but customer experience isn’t one of them and this is the root of the problem. Compare it to others places in the north or south of mainland Spain and you will instantly understand.

The businesses that are doing well on the White Isle are those that look after their customers so that they continually return. Many businesses have profited from the rise of Ibiza but just the name doesn’t cut it anymore with so much competition around

The feedback is that Ibiza has been found wanting with its customer focus, preferring to put profits first. Longevity comes from providing an experience coupled with the right balance of price for your product.

As the younger market is being marginalised the island needs its customers to return more than ever and the experience they have when here is key. We know Ibiza has what other destinations can only dream of but a reset in the way we treat our most precious commodity isn’t a bad idea either.