I have just come back from spending 10 days in ibiza from the 28th Aug to the 6th sept.
I have to say that it was probably the worst time i have ever spent in ibiza as far as clubbing goes and i went out pretty much every night.
The highlights of the week were DC10 on the 30th aug, Bora Bora because the music hit the spot every time, and steve lawler at space. The rest of the nights i went to were rubbish. Pacha on the tuesday was dead... dead ... dead. we left after 30 mins, all 4 of us !!!!! el divino for the defected night was awful and full of too many people tring to look good rather than have a good time. I would have had a better time in ibiza if i had not set foot in a club and stayed at the beach bars and i would have saved a fortune as well.
I have seen the pressure being applied to the fun places and i think the clubs / mafia / councils have mis-judged the situation and are applying a knee-jerk reaction to a problem that has built up over the last 10 years and will backfire on them.
Yes we all love dancing on the beach to loud music but this can disturb the locals. OK . Instead of banning it completely. Stop it during hours that will disturb the locals create some days that it is banned completely so that the locals can have some days off. That would be reasonable and fair and would still alllow the locals to benefit from the extra business brought in by the vibe of these places. This could apply to all places, km5,sa trincha, jockey etc.
If any council comes in and trys to ban something completely from the off, they are getting pressure from another source.
Take for example the restrictions placed on space. They have to keep the noise down before 10.30 am and have to close the terrace by midnight/1am but within these hours they have no restrictions and are within easy reach of local residents and hotels regarding noise pollution. This is a restriction placed by the police / council based on complaints from local residents and is what is considered fair by them when facing local complaints.
Now we look at the restriction placed on bora bora that is a straight ban. This eems strange considering the location, within the same earshot as space and probably subject to the same complainents. Ok. So bora bora has music between say 3-5 ish to midnight. I have been there many times and they never seem to exceed a certain noise level and are usually within 5-10 mins of there time to shut down which is very good for a bar of this sort. They never have any major trouble apart from people trying to get taxis home on the street and drunken people, which are everrywhere in that part of town.
The police seemd to have applied the same music restriction that they have on the terrace in space up until now and have now seen to apply more restrictions on bora bora than space itself. This can only be because of pressure from a different source than the locals as if it was the locals , they would have shut the terrace completely as well.
This can only leave one conclusion.
The clubs want the free options for music on ibiza island shut down. They have control over the police/fire service due to 'extra charges' that these services place on the clubs thereby giving the clubs the close ear of the police/council due to the money they bring into the islands civil services.
This has happened in many cities over the years. One of the main examples would be new york in the early/mid eighties where it flourished and was finally extinguished by activities like this . It is unavaoidable in a society like ours based on capitalism.
If i can't go to a place like bora bora / DC10 / sa trincha and listen to a bit of music and have a boogie as a pre club warm-up, then i will have to find somewhere else to go . I have usually gone to ibiza 1-2 times a year for the last 5 years and first went to the island in 1991. I love the place but this kind of things happens all the time on the island and stifles creativity. Have the club owners forgotten their own starts on the island when they were small,friendly and had a 'balaeric' feel? definitely. Is it likely to get any better over the coming years ? no . Will it get worse and will more clubs/bars be stifled in their search for a greater profits / door takes over the coming years ? definitley.
I think its time to create another island of fun and freedom as this one has lost the feel that it had 12-15 years ago . like a club in any town / country thats had its day , time to stop going and bring kyou and your friends to another place thats cheaper , more beautiful and not jaded by the tourism trail as you can have the best party/times as long as you have good company,drinks and a smile on your face.
Remember, the vibe in ibiza was created by people like us , not the clubs. Without us there is no bora bora chant , no space cheer when the planes fly over. We make the island vibe not them. Lets leave IBIZA to toffs and their credit cards, they're welcome to it. I'm going to find a beautiful beach somewhere in the agaen and see if we can create vibe that would be fun.
I'll let ya know when i find it. The £2500 i save by not going to ibiza next year will let me island hop greece for at least 2 months or go to australia for a month / cape town for 2 months / Rio for the carnival / 2 weeks sky-diving above the hoover dam / 3 months in the alps snowboarding.
(some people will disagree but this is my opinion and is as valid as anyone elses, don't blast me too much for it)
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