Is the party over for Ibiza? Just ask New York.

Is the party over for Ibiza? Just ask New York.

16 November, 2007 | 12.06PM

• Written by: Terry Church
• Filed under: Music News:

Ibiza is in the middle of a transition.

The new socialist government has introduced punitive new laws that will change Ibiza’s spirit as we know it - the hedonistic, life-affirming force that has attracted millions of young people to flock to the island ever since the Beatniks invaded the beaches in the 1950s.

The government, headed up by right-winger Xico Tarres, is intent on clamping down on certain elements of its kicking nightlife scene, mainly clubbers who come to party hard each summer.

But worryingly, Ibiza’s clampdown echoes the beginning of the end of New York’s nightlife scene, a sad demise that was caused by Mayor Giuliani when he began to get tough on nightclubs.

First Guiliani closed down strip clubs, then he introduced the infamous Cabaret Act which banned dancing in most of the city’s bars and clubs.

The law caused a cultural vacuum that sucked the life out of New York’s once vibrant nightlife scene.

Is the same thing about to happen to Ibiza?

“Some elements of Ibiza society and definitely the new political faction in office lean towards steering the island’s development in a more affluent direction,” says Will Johnston, resident DJ for Bora Bora, one of the island’s most famous beach bars.

“It’s not necessarily that they want to kill parties and nightlife, but they don’t want the ‘seedier’ elements of the club scene to ruin the image of Ibiza.”

Xico Tarres said in a recent article with Ibiza’s newspaper, Diario de Ibiza, that after-hours clubs, “attract a lower quality of tourist and cause more problems than benefits.”

Whilst Ibiza Town’s mayor Ribas said after-hours clubs are: “"totally undesirable… we don´t like them at all.”

Clubs closing

Bora Bora, along with the hugely popular clubs DC10 and Amnesia were ordered to close temporarily in June over drug and security allegations.

“These venues don’t fit the face of how the authorities want clubs to be as they push for their version of a Spanish Monte Carlo, Monaco or Saint Tropez,” says Clive Henry [right], resident DJ for the much-loved Circoloco party at DC10.

Will Johnston is more blunt, “They prefer cocaine and Viagra to ketamine and ecstasy.”

Recently, Spain has put pressure on Ibiza to clean up its act, both from a tourism point of view, and from an environmental one.

Spain has called a halt to building development on Ibiza and a few other Balearic islands to try and protect its beautiful natural habitats.

The end of Ibiza’s non-stop party scene is a strategic aim that ruling party leader Xico Tarres [right] has had since 2005, when he blamed that part of the club scene for Ibiza’s drug problem.

“You can’t party non-stop into the next day on Coca-Cola alone, you need other substances,” he told reporters back in 2005.

Ibiza hedonism

Kim Booth is the epitome of an Ibiza hedonist.

The 25-year-old British club dynamo has been going to the island for nine years and spends every summer there running her dance music PR company.

She looks after some of Ibiza’s biggest clubs and DJs including We Love Sundays at Space, Tiefschwarz, Josh Wink and Riton.

She’s a self-confessed Ibiza addict and as such, is the right person to ask about the affect the crackdown will have on the island.

“Ibiza to me is about a hedonistic lifestyle - no plans, no rules, freedom - having fun.

“It shouldn’t be about being regimented all the time and no one wants to feel that someone is always watching. Ibiza is changing,” she tells Beatportal. 

However, comparing Ibiza’s new law, which bans after-hours clubs, to Giuliani’s New York Cabaret Act might be a tad unfair.

Giuliani practically banned dancing altogether, whilst Ibiza’s government have just said clubs cannot open before midday.

Negative effect?

Clive Henry doesn’t think the new law will affect his DC10 posse or the scene too much.

He says: “To be honest when I first started hitting DC10 it was all about the mornings but slowly as the summers have gone by it has become more about the day and nighttime.

“No one really gets there before 1 or 2pm nowadays anyway.”

Value for money is something that is high on the agenda for most clubbers who visit Ibiza each summer.

Prices have been on the rise every year.

Drinks are extortionately priced - some clubs even charge 12 euros for a small bottle of water.

Door entry is a joke too; the closing party of Cocoon at Amnesia in September cost a whopping 80€.

Cutting the number of hours clubbers get for their money also means slimming down DJ line-ups.

So next summer, there will be less DJs, less time to party, and you’ll have to pay more for the privilege – the new law doesn’t affect Ibiza’s exponential inflation.

It’s no wonder then, that on the same day that Diario de Ibiza reported the new law banning after-hours clubs it also had an article about the unprecedented number of illegal raves which took place in Ibiza this summer.

With prices rocketing, police checkpoints outside clubs and new laws, clubbers are alternative party options.

A new approach to parties

“If anything all the new law does is make the scene stronger and it will drive it even more underground,” says Clive Henry.

“There were heaps more villa and house parties this summer and a lot more intimate gatherings, which in some ways is loads more fun then being squashed into a club with 5,000 people.”

On a positive note, forcing people to go underground might lead to some creative club events as promoters look for ways to work with the law.

It is important to point out that so far, the government of Ibiza has mainly targeted the same venues – DC10 and Bora Bora, plus a number of smaller beach bars.

The general feeling amongst clubbers and Ibiza veterans is that these venues don’t quite fit the utopian ideal that Ibiza’s authorities are aiming for.

Pacha, Space and El Divino have been let off the hook because their clientele are the type of people Ibiza’s authorities want.

“I think it’s all too easy for the authorities to pick on the likes of DC10 and Bora Bora because of the fact they’re not some superclub with swarms of supermodels and zillionaires floating around with bottles of Cristal in their hands,” says Clive Henry.

Mayor Ribas thinks that attracting a new type of tourist to Ibiza will improve the situation and they want to attract people that are interested in cycling breaks, gastronomy and natural beauty.

“For the first time we now have a website for Ibiza tourism, which highlights what there is to do here year-round, as well as simple things such as which hotels open in winter,” said Ribas.

“We believe the season could be much longer, but operators say there is no demand.

“Low-cost services stop in winter too. If we can get people interested in Ibiza then the industry may have to take a fresh look at us.”

So is Ibiza going the same way as New York?

Banning after-hours clubs and prohibiting venues from opening before midday doesn’t sound like end of Ibiza’s club scene, it’s merely being reined in.

“The law only stops clubs from opening before midday so I’m sure it won’t affect it too badly,” says Kim Booth.

“I never went out to a club before midday anyway.

But ridding the island of its infamous hedonistic spirit is likely to put off some clubbers from returning, especially considering the overpriced nature of main clubs on the island.

Kim warns, “But the hedonists; the people that bring new music, new life, new spirit and new fun to the island might piss off somewhere else.

“If that happens, the music will become stagnant on the island.

“And then the freedom of the island as we know it will be gone.”

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