MAN IN SAN AN by Martin Makepeace

It’s nearly over. If you don’t live on the island then you might not realise that I’m referring to August in Ibiza. If you do then you might share in my sentiment that the busiest month of the year is a marathon not a sprint. A war of attrition on your senses, your mental health and more importantly your patience.

But August 2023 will be remembered differently to many in the past, fluctuating week by week, weekend by weekend. Sometimes ridiculously busy, other times eerily quiet, it was a tough one to call and had many scratching their heads.

August sees a change in dynamic of those arriving. It’s a real mixed bag. The party people and young families all in the same melting pot. The majority of arrivals are from Spain who like to do their own thing, Italians also travel in heavy numbers and they aren’t known for their overspending, It’s a cliche but different nationalities do different things and behave in different ways (except go to the beach). Fortunately Ibiza has something for everyone.

An ever present theme is how expensive Ibiza has become. This can’t be denied but it is still possible to enjoy the White Isle without taking out a 2nd mortgage however if you want to go to world class events and fill you instagram stories living like a rock star then expect to pay accordingly. Once again there’s always a choice.

Flights and hotels have also become especially expensive during the peak season. The airlines did warn us after the pandemic but we were too busy celebrating freedom to take any notice but they have steadily edged up while other destinations such as Turkey and Egypt have managed to keep their package holidays at a more competitive level.

It was reported this week that hotel prices in Ibiza are, on average, the most expensive in the whole of Spain. Family run hotels have been steadily snapped up by chains or concept groups who have invested millions in refurbishing then marketing in a new dynamic way to create new markets. But this is business and the new breed of hotelier need to recoup their investment and the only way to do it is by charging more and focussing on your in-house food and beverage offer to keep guests in and also attract the outside crowd. Not ideal for surrounding businesses.

After all the hundreds of millions spent on these shiny new rooms there will be a few nerves in the hotel trade wondering how far they can realistically push up the prices to get return on investment. The general rule of thumb is if the hotel is still full then carry on edging up prices until you find your level. The market ultimately decides the price.

In general Ibiza shows no real signs of fatigue just yet but that’s not say there isn’t a ceiling. After a variable August there will be a concern that the direction we are going in might marginalise the majority but the numbers for 2023 will reveal that a thirst for Ibiza still remains but it’s coming at an increasing cost.

One of my favourite stories is when chatting to a friend who became annoyed and animated about the way Ibiza is now ‘too expensive’, so I simply said “go to Benidorm then”. His reply was that he didn’t want to go to Benidorm he wants to come to Ibiza. So there you have it although I think the irony was lost on him.

With all the amazing things that Ibiza has to offer the desire to come is as strong as ever. The challenge is to find out how much tourists are willing to pay for the ‘privilege’.

Dear Valued Friend

Seeing as you can only visit and stay during the peak summer weeks (allegedly) here are the house rules…

1) You are getting a FREE holiday, if you want a lift from the airport then please don’t book a flight that arrives at 2am so you can save 40 euros.

2) I am not God, I know it’s hot – the weather is nothing to do with me (you could always visit in spring or autumn!)

3) If you lay in the sun without protection you will burn; if you don’t wear a bikini top someone will stare at your t*ts, get over it! 

4) There is no such thing as a self-replenishing fridge – the occasional pack-of-beers, bottle of wine or bag of prawns is most appreciated. 

5) I am not a taxi service, if you intend to explore the island then bring your licence and rent a car or scooter, even if it’s only for a day.

6) Switch off the air-conditioning in your room when you’re not in it, have you seen the electricity dial spin like mad when the air-con is on?

7) NEVER say “what are WE doing today” as you will be physically removed from the premises. There is no ‘we’!

8) Super Clubs are expensive hence why they are called ‘Super’. No I’m not going with you, No I can’t get you guest list nor free drinks and don’t wake me up at 5am when you come back in.

9) If you insist on having drinks at a sunset bar please do not complain to me that you were charged 18 euros for a gin and tonic – I really don’t care plus it’s only 5 euros in the local bars I frequent.

10) If you have enjoyed your holiday and your FREE stay with friends, why not take them out for a nice dinner? Not a pizza or a Chinese takeaway but a proper restaurant with tablecloths and waiters in crisp shirts; go on, you know you can do it.

Same time next year, I love you really!

Yours sincerely
Grumpy Island Resident

With special thanks to Frank Leavers

Last week after an amazing day at Headingley I caught the 8.40am flight from Leeds Bradford to Ibiza. I specifically booked this flight as it was early and I thought it would be peaceful. How wrong I was.

As I entered the airport the noise was insane for 7.30am in the morning. As I went upstairs through security the sound only intensified. The bar was full, the usual tattooed young lads with straight fringes and chemically enhanced bodies were in full swing. The girls with plump lips, false eyelashes and brightly coloured clothes were egging them on. As planes boarded, normal looking people headed to the queue for Faro and the aforementioned groups of youngsters unsurprisingly joined the Ibiza queue.

During the flight the atmosphere was friendly but also tinged with a touch of electricity. A few of the boys had obviously enjoyed their liquid breakfast and were now shouting and screaming, showing off to the long lashed girls who by now were well invested in the whole experience.

Relatively speaking, the flight itself went without too much incident apart from the rising levels of excitement. The polite Jet2 cabin crew lady did lose it at one point with one of the shouty lads but she handled it well and it all calmed down. The chattering and nervous excitement was palpable and we landed at Ibiza’s Es Codolar airport to the inevitable round applause and wolf whistling.

This is where things took a more sinister turn. As we departed the aeroplane, the testosterone, drinks and other chemicals kicked in and the various groups of youngsters became more agitated. ‘Ibiza’ was only a few hundred metres away but the short transport ride to the terminal was like a school assembly with a bunch 7 year olds after eating blue sweets for hours.

As we entered passport control the young lads jumped the fences to avoid the queuing system, girls screamed at their friends even though they were stood next to them. The excitement levels had hit optimum levels and overtaken decent behaviour. The security staff meanwhile looked on with dead eyes, they had seen it all before.

People work hard for their time off and there’s nothing wrong with being excited about your holiday but this type of behaviour pushes the limits. On one hand Ibiza wants and needs people to be excited about coming here – we have world leading entertainment, amazing beaches and nature, a history of cuisine that is already excellent and getting better yet we also expect people to act like respectable human beings. Where does nervous excitement stop and disrespectful disruptive behaviour start?

Ibiza, in many ways, is a victim of its own success. It paints a picture on social media of an anything goes, permissive society so how does it really expect people to behave? How is it that those same tattooed gym bunnies go to Dubai in the winter and behave themselves yet come to Ibiza and lose the plot? Is it because they know that in certain places actions bring consequences and they don’t want be locked up in a cell for 20 years regretting their behaviour. Put simply, people react to the environment they are in.

It’s been a tough couple of weeks on the White Isle. Avoidable car accidents, balcony falls and a near fatal hotel stabbing only scratches the surface and we aren’t even into the peak season yet. Where will it all end? The ‘I’m in Ibiza so I can do anything I want’ attitude is slowly suffocating the golden goose.

Local elections were less than 2 months ago, the new Ibiza politicians have to come up with a plan on how to control the bad eggs. Not just at the airport but during their time on this very small island. We don’t need hot air and hyperbole but a real plan with specific attainable objectives. It won’t be easy as it’s a tightrope trying to maintain Ibiza’s liberal laidback attitude yet coming down hard at the right time.

Globally, Ibiza has been at the top of its game for several years but what goes up must come down and if the island doesn’t take back control the consequences will be there for all to see.

Pacha Group has effectively been split into two separate entities with the much rumoured sale of the hotel and nightlife assets to Five Holdings, a Dubai based company owned by businessman Kabir Mulchandani.

The reported price of 320 million euros does not include the ‘Lio’ brand which will be retained and managed by existing owners Trilantic Capital Partners who purchased the Pacha Group from the Urgell family in 2017 for around 350 million euros.

Lio is viewed by many as the most dynamic brand within the group with a rapid expansion programme that has seen the cabaret with food focussed business open in Mykonos and London following on from their success in the old El Divino nightclub in Marina Ibiza.

Lio Mallorca opens in August and there’s also plans to open in Miami, Las Vegas and Dubai. The Dubai venue will be at the Five Luxe Hotel, owned and operated by Five Holdings.

The deal is being presented as a new strategic partnership to help international expansion however for all intents and purposes the group is being split into 2, a cherry each for want of a better expression.

As part of the deal Pacha Group will refund the 18 million euros loan they negotiated from the Spanish government as emergency measures to get them through the Covid pandemic which hit the nightlife industry very hard.

Pepe Rosello, the founder and owner of Space Ibiza has been in the news again this week with his latest idea to keep the name alive. Space will be opening somewhere in Italy at a time when nobody really knows or possibly cares. It’s the latest attempt by Sr Rosello to keep the name alive and relevant but in a vastly changing landscape it’s mainly falling on deaf ears.

There’s no doubt that ‘back in the day’ Space Ibiza was the best club in the world. Not voted for by paid ads or sycophantic hacks but genuine partygoers and clubbers who had an experience like no other at a club that pushed all the boundaries.

Space Ibiza organically grew and never lost its edge but became more corporate over the years as the stakes became higher and when it eventually closed its doors in 2017 it was a fully functioning superclub making oodles of cash for Pepe and his chief trumpeter Carl Cox.

But the world moves on very quickly and if you were to ask the majority of young clubbers at Hï or Amnesia or O Beach or Ushuaia about Space Ibiza then I would hazard a guess that a glazed look would cross their eyes with a shrug of the shoulders. They are living in the here and now.

Shortly after Space closed its doors there were rumours perpetuated by Carl Cox and friends that Space would open in a new venue in Ibiza. That never happened. Then there was the new 5 star Space Hotel which also never happened followed by the opening of Space Eat and Dance, a small cocktail bar on the sunset strip which did happen but, with the greatest will, hasn’t set the world alight compared to its big hitting neighbours, Cafe del Mar and Mambo.

Now we have the new Italian job with a big announcement and a beaming smile from its founder. Does anyone under the age of 40 even care any more?

Pepe Rosello is now an octogenarian, he’s a prince amongst men, a true patriot of San Antonio who has served his time at the top table with class and distinction but his quest to keep the name alive threatens to spoil its legacy if the new ventures don’t live up to the past, which they won’t.

Time to let the legend be, Space Ibiza was a moment in time that is hard to put into words. Those of us who were lucky enough to witness it will never forget it. Desperately trying to keep the name alive threatens to devalue what went before.

Marcos Serra was sworn in as the Mayor of San Antonio last week for his 2nd four year term but now with an absolute majority rather than a flimsy coalition to work with. A vote of confidence from the local electorate for the young and likeable Serra, his to-do list will be long and varied but one thing keeps repeating on him like a hastily eaten kebab at 2am in the morning.

I’m referring, of course, to San Antonio’s infamous West End, a few streets in the urban centre that still manages to demand more column inches than anywhere else in Ibizas 2nd largest town. The above flippant remark is relevant as there are probably more kebab shops in the west end of San Antonio than actual bars which says it all about the progression of the area that has been a political hot potato for over 5 decades

The West End has gone through many changes since it’s conception in the 70’s. From upmarket evenings to riotous anything goes madhouse to today’s post-covid incarnation that is a shadow of its former self yet still draws the crowds with cheap booze and bawdy behaviour. It’s the anti beach club/superclub hangout where the same people who pay 300 euros for a sunbed and bottle of premium spirits in the daytime (whilst posting pretentious instagram pics of course) haggle over jugs of sickly sweet cheap alcohol that cost a fraction. While other Ibiza venues push up their prices to eye watering levels, the West End proprietors are the masters of their own destiny by undercutting their neighbours while hassling young kids to drinks packages designed to get them into a drunken stupor. A true race to the bottom.

Compared to other places, the area is gloriously downmarket with questionable characters aplenty. It doesn’t try to be pretentious or boring, it does exactly what it says on the tin – loud, proud, bawdy, boisterous and never dull. You need to have your wits about you as there’s plenty of chancers ready to pounce but this is all part of its ‘charm’. It not only attracts people for all the aforementioned reasons but for many it’s the starting point for their Ibiza journey, especially for those on a budget. For every negative there’s a positive and we could argue for hours on whether it’s good for the town but that will get us nowhere in the context of this article. It is what it is but that doesn’t mean it can’t change.

The big question is what will Marcos Serra and his local government do with the area over the next 4 years. In 2019 he produced a glossy video with sexy graphics on how he was going to upgrade the West End with a roof and paving. It looked great and although it produced much cynical commentary, at least it was a plan. Covid kiboshed that thought pattern but earlier this year the Mayor’s office brought in a financial initiative, offering a grant of up to 80.000 euros per business ‘to encourage a change of business model’ with the specific aim of changing pubs and bars to shops and restaurants that function during the day,” 6 businesses have applied so far.

This initiative is part of a three million euros fund obtained from the EU for urban improvement and beautification which prompted Mayor Serra to declare that ‘for the first time, a real investment is being made in the West End……..to give a leap in the quality of tourism in San Antonio’. Another idea was for the floor of the West End to be brightly painted by the artist Okuda however with elections looming and local feedback varied the Mayor got cold feet and put the plan on ice for the time being citing timing issues.

So lots of plans but no tangible changes so far but now Marcos Serra is back in the big chair, the whole of San Antonio is waiting to see if he can pull off a minor miracle and regenerate an area that is screaming out for some tender loving care albeit with an iron glove to rid it of its more undesirable elements.

It’s not out of the question, Ibiza has the uncanny knack of constantly reinventing itself, it only takes a bit of foresight and investment to change the mentality of the paying public. We have seen it with Ushuaia, Mambo, O Beach and too many more to mention.

The Mayor is in his early 40’s so is of a generation that has grown up with the West End evolving into the place it is today. He has been there on Saturday nights with all his mates so he knows exactly what needs to be done but in reality it’s more difficult than it sounds. If he can turn around this small strip of bars, clubs and fast food joints then his name will be etched in stone next to his statue at the bottom of the famous cobbled street. Whether he is brave enough to tackle it head on and break a few eggs to make a delicious tortilla is a whole different story.

Ibiza and Formentera’s election day proved to be definitive as the centre right Partido Popular (PP) swept aside all in front of them as they took control of all 5 Ibiza municipalities and the Island Councils of both Ibiza and Formentera.

The biggest surprise of the night was Rafa Triguero’s convincing win in Ibiza Town, winning with a crushing 15 seats on the 25 seat council. The capital city’s voters with a resounding rejection of outgoing mayor Rafa Ruiz whose socialist PSOE party returned a disappointing 7 seats.

In San Antonio, Marcos Serra returned an absolute majority with 12 seats on the 21 seat council, only missing out on a 13th seat by a handful of votes. It was a firm approval by the electorate of his dynamic leadership over the last 4 years, his youthful team celebrated long into the night knowing that the hard work must continue to consistently improve Ibiza’s second largest town.

In San Jose, Vicent Roig gained an impressive victory with 10 seats, just falling short of a majority however with Vox winning 2 seats a right wing coalition is highly likely. This is the first time in a decade that San Jose had turned blue and once again signals that the electorate were voting for change.

Sant Joan has seen much political controversy over the last few weeks as the PP publicly aired their dirty washing and this was reflected at the polls. Ex councillor Santi Mari formed his own party after failing to obtain the PP mayoral ticket and returned a respectable 2 seats but split the centre right vote meaning that the PP came away with 8 seats (down from 10) which was still good enough to claim a majority in the 13 seat chamber.Tania Mari will be the new Mayor.

The least surprising result of the night was in Santa Eulalia where Carmen Ferrer was voted back in to office increasing her foothold in the council from 13 to 14 seats. The conservative municipality rubber stamping her dynamic leadership once again for another 4 year term.

Vicent Mari, Sra Ferrer’s predecesor in the Santa Eulalia hot seat, was re-elected as president of the Consell de Ibiza (Island council) with a majority of 8 seats, an increase of 2 from 4 years ago. The 13 seat chamber now has an absolute majority for the first time in 8 years.

The biggest surprise of the night was the rise of the far right Vox party, who gained representation in all town halls except Sant Joan, and the downfall of the PSOE socialists who had a very poor day at the voting stations.

In Formentera the municipal and island council shifted to the centre right for the first time in 15 years with a win for the Sa Unió party which is made up of an alliance of the PP and the local Compromis party.

An historic night for Ibiza and Formentera and a big endorsement for the PP will have far reaching consequences for the islands over the next 4 years. With a big mandate and all councils pulling in the same direction expect big changes….but it won’t happen overnight.

It’s almost election time in Ibiza which means as sure as night follows day the usual political suspects will trot out the same lines that they have been coming out with for years even though things have drastically changed over the last decade.

Joan Torres, of the PI party, has promised to ‘eradicate excess tourism’ from San Antonio should he become Mayor in the local elections on 28 May. Sr Torres is the man who gained only 400 votes at the last election but was the kingpin in forming a government with the PP party and then consistently caused trouble by voting and briefing against his own team until he was removed late last year. If there was ever an example of why proportional representation doesn’t work then this is it.

Yet Sr Torres still uses this throwaway phrase for leverage. For years it was directed at San Antonio’s West End when chaos lurked around every corner and groups of naive youngsters would get the hard sell into buying a bottle of cheap spirits, mixers and several shots for a tenner each.

The result wasn’t pretty or dignified, a race to the bottom by unscrupulous bar owners undercutting their neighbours because they didn’t know any better. Then along came COVID and the West End didn’t open for the best part of 2 years and when it did, life and tastes had moved on dramatically. The area is now a shadow of its former self with only a handful of bars open for business attracting the cheaper end of the market, it still has a place in the tapestry of San Antonio even though the whole area now has to close at 3am.

Ibiza has been transformed over the last decade, some may say not for the better but the evolution has been stark, the personal spend of each tourist amongst the highest in the world. Ibiza has a product that other destinations can only dream of and is the envy of many yet opportunistic politicians still want to demonise youngsters for having a good time, biting the very hand that feeds them. Since when was it a crime to overindulge and let your hair down on holiday?

There is a line that shouldn’t be crossed and some tourists behaviour in the summer leaves a lot to be desired but these idiots are very much in the minority. The overwhelming majority have fun in the sun, no different to anywhere else with a build up of youngsters on a hot summers day with free flowing alcohol. To mark out San Antonio for its excessive past is doing a disservice to it’s future.

The spotlight of San Antonio’s ‘excess’ has shifted to larger venues who operate daily parties but they have plentiful security and fully stocked medical facilities. It’s when the tourists leave the venue that problems can sometimes arise and these venues should never get a free pass but should also be applauded for providing a controlled safe space for maximum enjoyment, that’s one of the reasons why they are busy every day.

There’s much that needs improving on the White Isle like the the local transport system so there’s not an over reliance on the woeful Ibiza taxi service or incentivising local businesses to open earlier in the season or clamping down on street sellers and pickpockets. Affordable housing for professionals and a few pedestrian pathways to stop people walking on main roads wouldn’t go amiss either

Ibiza has made its global reputation on world class entertainment and now you can add fine dining and top hotels as a reason why the island is at the very top of its game but there’s still much to focus on to make Ibiza a better place to live and visit. Let’s not let spurious pronouncements by polarising politicians cloud the real issues at hand.

As the summer season approaches there’s a strange standoff happening in the UK press as the Daily Mail (surprise surprise) has gone to war on Ibiza and Mallorca in the Balearic Islands with increasingly negative headlines.

In short the UK press is presenting Ibiza and Mallorca in the Balearics as increasingly unaffordable for Brits, both tourists and residents with Lanzarote also coming in for stick for suggesting it needs to diversify away from the traditional budget Brit holiday.

It’s an interesting take on events which isn’t actually a million miles away from the truth although the sensationalist UK press are presenting it as a new phenomenon even though it’s been happening for years.

In truth Ibiza has been going more upmarket for over a decade but it was desperately needed after so many years of relying on budget tour operators filling 3 star hotels with plane loads of square deal tourists, this was the package holidays ‘glory days’ of stacking it high and selling it ‘cheap’ but with tour operators constantly squeezing prices it led to little or no investment in the core product.

We all know what happened to those tour operators once the internet opened up the market and people could start building their own dynamic package: flying from an airport of their choice and getting a private taxi to their desired hotel. Prices started to edge up but it was a win win as the penny dropped for the hoteliers who invested this new wealth back into their business adding luxuries and facilities to improve their product.

In very few years the whole template of Balearic hotels became a completely different animal appealing to new markets. In the mid 90’s the Hotel Playa d’en Bossa was one of Thomson Holidays many family hotels with its superb beach location and enormous kids club. Today it is the Ushuaia Beach Hotel. Things change and Ibiza’s secret has been to be ahead of the curve.

Enough of the brief history lesson, let’s get back to the UK’s press ‘outing’ the Balearics as an expensive destination. No sh*t Sherlock however as I’ve previously written about (link here) it doesn’t always have to be that way and the difference now is that tourists have the choice where previously they didn’t.

Other Spanish resorts have looked at their own template and realised they have to diversify and try to attract a more affluent crowd. This isn’t a bad thing and when it comes to some of the Canary Islands it was chronically overdue. Meanwhile Egypt, Greece and Turkey will keep doing their thing by offering very competitively priced holidays. It’s great to have a choice isn’t it! You pays your money and you takes your chance.

So is the Balearics now more expensive than ever? You bet your life it is but it was well overdue and looking at last year when records tumbled it obviously hasn’t affected the bottom line with these profits being reinvested back into the product with prices edging up even more.

There’s no denying that the recent boom has brought challenges, not least a housing crisis for those who’s job it is to service the tourist industry. The local government talks a lot but has no solution so the emphasis remains with employers to house their staff and include it in their employment package but with low supply and high demand it’s easier said than done. The flip side of this is if you are lucky enough to have invested in Ibiza property over the last 20 years then the capital growth is off the scale. There’s a yang to every yin.

The market has changed, it’s constantly evolving and the Balearics are a snapshot of that but it isn’t a negative. Has the ‘cheaper’ British market been squeezed out? A little, although Jet2 holidays is a roaring success filling the gap of the traditional tour operators with an amazing array of airport and accommodation options and some fantastic prices if you stay away from kids holidays.

There’s always going to be winners and losers and the UK press’s depiction of Ibiza amd Mallorca, although not entirely inaccurate, paints a distorted picture of the truth. Ibiza and the Balearics are finally catching up with other truly world class destinations, not by chance but by hard work and strategic planning but there’s still a long way to go.

Perception is everything and there’s 3 sides to every story. There are plenty of challenges but whether the UK press like it or not, Ibiza and the Balearics have never had it so good.