"...
Sun sets on Ibiza clubs that party after dawn
As the birthplace of so-called chill-out music, Ibiza's famous "post-rave" clubs
have long been a favourite way to end a long night on the tiles.
Now, however, the nightspots where partygoers watch the sun come up
may be closed forever thanks to a planned crackdown
by the island's licensing chiefs.
Anxious to curb the drug culture on Ibiza - part of the island's allure to many of the 500,000 British holidaymakers who visit every year - officials want an end to clubs that stay open well into daylight hours. In an attempt to revert to more mainstream "quality" tourism, they say Ibiza's legendary nightspots should keep times that fit in with normal "human biorhythms".
A statement from the Consell Insular Elivissa, Ibiza's council office, said: "We are not prepared to let the island be identified with madness. The night should start and end when it really is the night, and the hours of the discos should adapt to human biorhythms."
It added: "Those people who come here just to spend their days in the discos
do not interest us."
This being the Balearics, what counts as normal licensing hours is generous.
Few Ibiza rave clubs shut before 6am, reflecting the popularity among their patrons of amphetamines and ecstasy, which inhibit feelings of fatigue.
It is, however, the "post-rave" clubs, which fill up after 6am,
that are in the authorities' sights.
Also known as "after-hours" clubs, such establishments first developed in the early days of rave culture as places where revellers could rest their feet, talk without having to shout, and relax while the effects of drugs wore off.
Because they played mainly quiet, soothing sounds rather than the booming beats
of rave music, the Spanish authorities tended not to view them as a problem.
They even spawned their own brand of laid-back and atmospheric music - known as
"chill-out" - which is now popular in clubs and bars around the world.
In recent years, however, many have increasingly become straightforward extensions of full-on rave clubs,
simply allowing parties and drug-taking to go on for several extra hours.
Although the proposed crackdown is still at the consultation stage,
officials are determined to push it through.
José Manuel Bar, the head of the council that runs Ibiza, told The Sunday Telegraph:
"We need a more restrictive regulation of the club opening hours.
Without after-hours clubs, there will be a fall in the drug-taking, a fall in the number of people going to hospital suffering from overdoses and fewer arrests for possession of these [illegal] substances."
Mr Bar said the island, a haunt of celebrities such as Sienna Miller, Jade Jagger
and James Blunt, should adopt a "zero tolerance" attitude towards drugtaking.
"In Ibiza, not everything goes," he added.
Last week, as the clubs closed their doors for the traditional end of season parties, police said that 900 people had been arrested in the year for drug possession - about the same as in 2006.
At one point, exasperated by the relentless war against drug dealers inside the main dance venues, the local authorities took the unprecedented step of closing three of the biggest clubs. Amnesia, a venue that attracts young clubbers from across Europe through its doors, was closed for a month for its "lax attitude" towards drug taking, and fined €6,000 (£4,070).
Bora, Bora and DC-10, two other big clubs, were forced to close their doors
for one month and two months, respectively.
DC-10 and Bora, Bora are among the best-known after-hours clubs.
But Pedro Vidal, president of the Spanish discotheque owners' association,
said that cutting the hours of the clubs would do nothing to stop the drug trade.
"If we start cutting back hours, it will be worse," he said.
He added that he did not understand why a club opening during the day
presented a problem, if it was soundproofed and had its licence in order.
..."
(
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/14/wibiza114.xml)
