The Island…a different groove!?
Still a beautiful place
Ibiza is always changing. So I was told already a few years ago when I came here for the first time. and it’s true. Only that, the change ibiza is going through right now, seems to be a quite big one.
Speaking of the island itself, not a lot changed this year. The motorway’s here now, everyone is getting used to it and we can’t change it anymore anyway. They even finished the last part to the airport and started making look things a bit prettier with planting flowers and trees at the roundabouts etc. So – Ibiza as an island is still a very beautiful place with lots of terrific beaches, nice places, great sunset spots, a huge amount of cool restaurants (reasonably priced and expensive ones) etc…also, the summer was absolutely terrific weather-wise and there were much less jellyfish compared to last year. Remember the bomb alarm at the airport and the sunken boat in front of playa d’en bossa (resulting in some beaches being oil-covered for a few weeks in high season) last year? None such things this year. That’s something we really should keep in mind. So far – all really really good.
Grieving about missing daytime parties.
But ok, now let’s finally talk about the things that were less good this year. Because, in fact there were a few things and yes, it’s worth writing about IMO. As you’re surely guessing already, it’s about partying. Well, if you used to be a daytime party fan, then Ibiza definitely has lost an USP this year – that’s a fact. (USP = unique selling point for those not into marketing). No-one can deny that dancing at space at 10am and at early afternoon at dc10 was something really special. I know, there are afterhours almost everywhere in the (western) world and in many cities, by now, you can party on full-on from Friday night till Monday morning. But in my books, daytime parties in ibiza were unique. It was sunny and hot, absolutely stunning people everywhere (compared to afterhours here where you find…erm…not many stunning people mostly), a great vibe and cracking music. But as we know – that’s no more. And it’s a pity. I definitely can live without these parties, but I used to love to have that option and to give it a go whenever I felt like it. The afterhours held in the bars in ibiza town this summer were no comparison to space or dc10 daytime and almost each and every private afterparty got shut by the police after a few hours.
I do have some understanding for the government. I can see why they want to make Ibiza an a bit quieter place. The thing is, though: ibiza until now hasn’t got enough infrastructure for the “other” clients apart from the clubbers. Saying that, I do not mean it’s only clubbers going to ibiza (it’s only 25% of the whole clientele anyway), but what I want to say is merely the following: if a lot of clubbers will stop coming, ibiza then in my books hasn’t got enough to offer (or the best cards) to fill that hole. Families? - too expensive, not enough family-suited places in my opinion. Or shall I just say that many other destinations offer something similar for a much more economic price? Sporty tourists? - not enough infrastructure (mallorca for example is famous for biking-holidays and has more than one golf court…but no-no, we don’t want more golf courts in ibiza!) Winter tourism? - still very much a baby in ibiza. And above all: many people will still stay away completely from ibiza (as they always did) because of it’s reputation as a party island. Ibiza doesn’t lose this reputation in one year. I know how many of you (including me, by the way) still have to clarify that ibiza is MUCH MUCH MUCH more than only clubbing when speaking to friends who’ve never been before. Agree? People who always came to ibiza for non-clubbing holidays will keep coming obviously because they know the secrets. I just doubt that, even with the changes, they’re gonna get more of the non-clubbing sector of tourists coming to ibiza without lowering the prices. Look at the economic situation at the moment anyway. Ibiza is generally quite expensive for tourists (of course there are exceptions, and, again, compared to other destinations) and not everyone is willing to pay these prices.
But let’s return to the new party laws - I just think the 6am-4:30pm rule is too strict. 6am till 12noon would have done the trick (a real break) and would still have given the possibilities to have real daytime parties. but we’ve talked about this a lot during the last months…in fact, it’s already more than a year ago when we started discussing this stuff on the forums. On the other hand, the 6am closing rule, in my opinion, didn’t do much harm. As you all know, there were hardly any nights that stopped at 6am on the dot. With the extension of the law (saying that the big clubs have one hour to empty their premises), the clubs normally did shut between 6:30 and 7:00am. So, during the season, people lost maybe half an hour or max. one hour of partying compared to earlier years. During the opening and closing parties, clubs shut later and these periods weren’t really affected. I generally think this rule did much less harm than the daytime party ban. Returning to the daytime party ban discussion, before the season began, I had expected people to stand in front of space in big queues at 4:30pm, all ready to rock. I was proven wrong. no party at space really kicked off before 7pm, sometimes even later. Also, dc10 suffered the same. I expected there would still be some daytime partying magic left but no…the only exceptions were the zoo project at gala night (but then again it was almost dark when it kicked off properly), dc10 (but only if you were really early) and bora bora (but then again I never was the biggest fan of BB and, although I have friends who worked there, I am sorry, but if I am really honest I thought it got worse every year I was there now). I know all this sounds really negative but it’s how I felt about the daytime parties (and speaking about only the daytime parties).
Conclusion: I doubt the new tourism strategy will be really successful, but let’s see how things evelope on a long-term scheme. I still do grieve a bit about the daytime parties. as I’ve written above, I absolutely can live without them, but still, I am missing them. The nighttime parties this year were as good as ever (and maybe even better because it were the only parties to choose from and everyone was fresh), but ibiza afterhours will always remain in my memory…a sweet, sunny, sweaty and messy memory I’d like to have back in my life every now and then.
Analyzing the season.
Hmm. As we’ve seen in morbyd’s thread ... the overall numbers for this season weren’t as bad as expected. But still, I believe everyone who’s living / working on the island will agree it was one of the quietest seasons in the last decade. The port in Ibiza (with all the bars) suffered a lot and was never really busy apart of August. Both Playa d’en Bossa and San Antonio were quieter than the year before overall. And also, you saw the same picture in the clubs. Even some of the most famous Ibiza parties had low numbers sometimes (we love, just to name an example). Now…why was the season that weak? I personally think it’s a combination of various points/reasons…a few of them being:
- overall economic situation
- euro getting stronger / pound sterling losing (à bad for the british tourists)
- the footie euro championships in june kept many people away from ibiza
- prices in ibiza still rising kept people away
- many Spanish and Italian people coming to the island with a really low budget couldn’t afford spending a lot (not all of them obviously though – that’s just something I noticed)
- and as well, I do think the new clubbing laws and moreover the negative media presence from summer 2007 (when dc10, amnesia and bora bora were shut for 2-8 weeks) did affect the season as well. I know many clubbers who said “ah, we’ll give ibiza a break this year and we’ll come back once the situation is alright again. I doubt these guys will stay away from ibiza for years, but this year, many people just gave it a break.
Conclusion: everyone had to accept it was a quiet season. One part (the bigger one I guess) was the overall economic situation, but the other part is the fault of either the government (when it comes to clubbing and bad tourism strategies) or the businesses (keeping the high prices or even rising them still).
OK – but enough negativity for now – let’s go back to the nice things of life…
)
