The end of the 24-hour Ibiza party

As always I started with the best intentions of regularly updating this blog. It's never happened because paid work has always taken priority. Sorry about that.

What I've decided to do for the time being is let you in on the copy I send every week to ThinkSpain Today, the only English-language paper for the whole country. What you'll find here may differ quite dramatically from what appears in the paper. That's because it's the job of the sub-editors at ThinkSpain to create a tabloid paper...

These articles were submitted on 24 September 2007.

This summer will be the last that Ibiza’s clubbers can dance through the night and the following day. From 2008 all the island’s discos will have to be closed for the morning. All the politicians have to agree is which hours the clubs will stay locked.

Island Council president Xico Tarrés said that the current system of “after-hours” parties was attracting the wrong type of tourist, the sort who would come for two days without needing to sleep in a hotel because of the pills they’d taken.

He said that the mayors of all Ibiza’s municipalities had been informed of the closure plans and were in agreement. The legal department of the Island Council is now working with Balearic Autonomous Community to draw up a framework for the new laws.

The legislation will mark the end of an era for Ibiza’s clubbers. For years discos have operated until the morning when after-hours clubs such as Space and DC10 opened their doors.

There has been a clampdown on the nightclubs in recent years which have been forced to shut at 6am on schooldays with the aim of reducing the number of accidents involving party-goers and children.

Then, at the beginning of this summer, the clubs Amnesia, DC10 and Bora-Bora were heavily fined and closed by the police as the result of drug dealing taking place in previous years. There is continuing speculation that one or more of these clubs will not re-open in 2008.

Ibiza hit by tomato plague

An outbreak of “tomato leaf-miner” moths which started on a farm in Es Canar has now spread to the whole of Ibiza threatening future crops of vegetables and fruit according to island council scientists.

Originating from South America the moth, which doesn’t just affect tomatoes, is highly resistant to insecticides. Instead government experts are using a combination of techniques including burning the affected plants and using traps baited with artificial scents that are sexually attractive to the moths.

This year’s crops have not been directly affected and farmers hope the winter will kill off any remaining caterpillars, moths and their eggs.

Ibiza bishop in gay sex row

The Bishop of Ibiza and Ibiza town council are embroiled in an increasingly heated row over a picture depicting the late Pope John Paul II in an explicit homosexual act.

The collage by Dutch artist Ivo Hendriks forms part of an exhibition in a former church now used an art gallery. In the latest move the bishop has withdrawn from an agreement dating back to 1998 and demanded the return of the keys to the building.

The local council which part-funded the exhibition said it supported freedom of expression and would not become involved in acts of censorship.

Goodbye Eivissa

There will be no return to using the name “Eivissa” to promote Ibiza to the world according to the local tourist chief.

There had been suggestions that the new council elected in May could return to using “Eivissa” which was supported by the previous Progressive Pact government. But the Balearic Government tourist chief Francesc Buils said it would cost millions of euros to make the international public aware that Ibiza was Eivissa.

He said Ibiza was a well-known brand in the same way as Coca-Cola which has been globally successful for many years without ever changing even its logo.


Ibiza shops hit by tourist spending fall

Despite a rise in the numbers of tourists visiting Ibiza, shops in the island’s resorts are reporting a poor season with income falling by as much as a third in some places compared with last summer.

The worst affected areas, according to the local retail federation, are those which rely wholly on holidaymakers for their trade. In Ibiza Town some traders said that they had so few customers that they were closing at midnight rather than 3am as they have in the past.

In contrast, the shops that cater more to locals and are open year-round have generally maintained their income.

Police blame drugs and alcohol mix for Ibiza tourist death

A 60-year-old tourist has died after, it is believed, he first swallowed a bottle of the drug known as GHB or “liquid ecstasy” then went drinking in the Ibiza resort of Platja d´en Bossa.

The man collapsed in Murphy´s Bar around 9pm. The ambulance crew was unable to revive him and he died before arriving at the hospital.

The cause of death will not be confirmed until a post-mortem and toxicology tests have been carried out. In recent years a number of tourists have died or been admitted to hospital after mixing GHB with alcohol.