Europe at Present [Spring 2003]

Małgorzata Czoch, Łukasz Momot

LIFE IN IBIZA

During every summer up to 2.000.000 of Britons leave their motherland and go to Ibiza. All of them have one (maybe three) thing in common: sex, drugs and... techno. The Spanish island is considered to be the world's capital of clubbing. Clubbing which means alcohol, ear-splitting rythm, being on drugs two weeks in a row, neverending and unconcious sex and finally morning chill-out sessions.

Ibiza is the third largest of the Balearic Islands and together with Formentera forms the "Pitiusas" islands, that is what the Greeks called them, and it means "islands of pine trees". The population is 80.000 inhabitants and the island enjoys an excellent climate with an average annual temperature of 21,5° C maximum and 14° C minimum.

Ibiza is divided between 56 beaches distributed along the entire coastline of Ibiza and thus, while you travel through countryside set off with the remains of more than 2,600 years of history, you can choose, with the help of this guide, the beach which best suits your personality or the needs of your family.

Clubbing

Even though Ibiza is still a notoriously expensive place, its position of world clubbing capital seems to be very stable. Spanish island has still the biggest and the best clubs, spectacular in both their interior decoration and gimmickry. Top DJs and promoters move en masse to Ibiza every year, and they are always followed by numerous punters. The most famous clubs are all in Ibiza Town, San Antonio, or on the road between them. The season begins in May and ends in September. The opening and closing parties are the most important events during the season-they gather the largest crowd of cognoscenti.

The best clubs in Ibiza are:

Amnesia:

Halfway between Ibiza Town and San Antonio, Amnesia used to be open-air club. Unforunatelly for the clubbers the venue's owners have been forced to muffle the sound of thumping bass with special walls and roof. It is best known for its foam parties and a dry-ice maschine that shots jets of cold air up through vents in the floor. Last year Amnesia hosted the Liverpool superclub Cream.

Es Paradis is said to the most fashionable and the most famouse venue in Ibiza. It hosted last year another distinguished british club-Clockwork Orange from London. The dance-floor is flooded twice a week for Fiesta del Agua, which people tha \n splash about in. In that club there is even a special hydraulic system that lifts up the roof to let in the early morning sun.

Opposite the Marina in Ibiza Town, this is one of the few clubs on the island to keep its doors open all year round. Ministry of Sound are in residency over the summer.

This enormous club in Santa Rafael has room for 10,000 people in all - and the Monday-night antics (bad behaviour) when Manumission are in residence, have made it an Ibiza legend.

As well as the British promoters, this year sees an invasion by the Dutch as both Dance Valley and HQ (both clubs in Amsterdam) take up residency on the island for a season of hard house music. Two of California's biggest clubs, Giant and Release, are also planning to make their presence felt this summer.

Ibiza as a clubbing capital of the world is also notorious for drugs. For a raver from Britain dancing and later chilling is impossible without drugs. It is estimated that every year over Ł200m worth of drugs are sold on the island. Dealers in Ibiza operate in the open air without any uneasiness. They are aware of the fact that only a handful of arrests will be made.

To come by few ecstasy pills, some cocain or speed is very easy. People like "Lizard" (drug dealer), usually Spaniards, are everywhere. You can find them in every hotel or on every beach curled up on a plastic sun lounger. You can get your order right a way. Sometimes it takes time but in most cases not longer than ten minutes. Otherwise you may change the dealer to the one that is handing out flyers for a club that opens at 8am on Sunday and closes 22 hours later.

Selling drugs has nothing in common with surreptitious hiding or cover. Dealers are not looking over their shoulders. They simply pocket the money and nobody in the vicinity seemsto notice. There are never any police officers on sight.

Playa d'en Bossa, known to everyone as Bora Bora beach, is one of the trendiest places on Ibiza. It is a clubber's idea of paradise - great music, cheap drugs and high expectations of casual sex.

According to Michael Birkett, the vice-consul who resigned in horror at the behaviour of British tourist last year Bora Bora is a hedonistic hell. Very intriguing and surprising is the attitude of the Ibizans. They constantly moan and nag about the excess every now and then, but they are very pragmatic: drugs and clubs are a fantastic bussiness.

While tales of orgy, hooliganism and vandalism have constantly shown up on the headlines over the past five years, British police have been trying to come to a conclusion how the drugs trade has developed unchecked and why their Ibizian colleagues had not noticed anything alarming.

Some progress was made last year. Both sides, the British and the Spanish rolled up their sleeves. Investigetors at the national criminal intelligance service (NCIS) began cooperating with the Spanish authorities over ways to stop smuggling drugs to Ibiza and other Balearic islands-Majorca, Menorca, and Formentera.

During their research they uncovered some revaling statistics. In 1997, 600.000 britons were staying in Ibiza. The total number of Britons arrested for ecstasy possesion that year across the Balearic islands was two, neither of them in Ibiza. According to official Spanish reports no Britons were arrested for ecstasy possesion anywhere in the Balearic islands between 1990 and 1996.

In 1999 700.000 Britons went to Ibiza and 23 were arrested for drug offences. In 2000 almost 1.000.000 Britons were staying in Ibiza during summer. Almost thirty of them were arrested, but it is not clear how many of involved ecstasy. The Civil Guard on the island is overworked-out of season, the population is just 83.000 and crime rate is low. Astonishing may be the attitude of the Ibizan police. The anonymous source says: "The island is the drugs capital of Europe, probably the world, during the summer, and it has been for many years, but who would guess it? The police want to be seen to be doing things, but they are not very constructive. They can't understand the idea of intelligence-led policing. If they see someone trafficking or dealing, they will step in. But they don't look for it." Even basic techniques are ignored. Officers do not check tourists at the airports or search cars comming off the ferriesin the ports at San Antonio or Ibiza Town. John Abbott, the director general of NCIS, led a British delegation to Madrid and Ibiza last year to encourage a more proactive approach, without much success. "We don't get any meaningful information from the police on the island", says Abott. "Either the police don't know what is going on, or they do know and they are not telling us. We have to accept that they have their own way of doing things. It's frustrating, but there is nothing we can do."

This idyll for the drug dealers is hopefully about to change. The authorities have began relevant procedures and the investigators from several European countries have begun to concentrate on the island. Although British drug dealers often fly to Ibiza, the bussiness they run is considered to be "incidental and opportunistic". It is commonly known that most of the drugs are bought in Amsterdam, where prices are cheapest. There is no manufacturing on the island. Currently there are two pan-european surveillance operations under way that may make traffickers use more sophisticated methods than driving a car crammed with drugs from Holland and cathing a ferry to the island. "That's about as difficult as it has been up until now," said one dealer, who was drinking in a bar in San Antonio, a rowdy town on the west of the island that is overrun by Britons between May and September.

Drugs, mostly ecstasy but also cocaine and speed, fuel the dance culture, and with 35 British clubs hiring venues this year, including Cream, the Ministry of Sound and Manumission, the biggest headache for dealers is letting punters know where to buy their pills and having enough of them to go round.

Accorcing to Howard Marks, the one-time drug baron, who has been working on Ibiza as a writer during the summer, the street trade is controlled mainly by Spanish gypsies, who recruit people such as Lizard to walk along the beaches during the afternoon and tout for business.

The club managers disassociate themselves completely from the dealing, but it is clear that some of the people who hand out flyers are taking advantage of their preferential position to make extra cash. They either supply drugs or they can point you to someone who can.

Jose Luis Montoya, a reporter on Diario de Ibiza, the daily newspaper, says: "A lot of holidaymakers tell us this is the way they bought drugs." According to Montoya the gypsies do not have a monopoly: "The dealers who work the clubs in cities such as Manchester, Liverpool and London during the winter go out to Ibiza in the summer, because that is where the money is."

The notorious Adams family, from north London, have been linked to the trade in newspaper reports, and Pat, the eldest of the brothers, is known to be in Spain after leaving the country to avoid MI5. However, drugs investigators are sceptical about such claims and suspect British dealers, who use codenames such as Professor and Big M, are only "half-way up the food chain".

So far, local dealers and those who come from Britain for the summer have worked side by side. There has been no fights and battles for territory. There is simply so much money to be made. In Ibiza has been no shooting for as long as anyone can remember. "The gypsies run the show," says Marks, "but there are a lot of Britons taking advantage. The demand for drugs is so high - it's a seller's market, with millions of pounds being made every week." Finding the links between the front-line dealers and the traffickers is problematic. Rumours suggest that criminals in Spain are supervising the operation and they are in connection with a small number of businessmen on the island.

According to Ben Turner, editor of the clubbing magazine Muzik, the club owners have "secret backers who stay in the shadows, but nobody really knows who they are".

One of the British club managers says "It is pretty obvious the Britons who come out here are small-time. The island has a way of protecting its own people. They have five months of the year to make as much money as they can before Ibiza goes to sleep. Up until now, there has been very little trouble. I am not paying protection money and I don't get hassled by gangsters. It is the main reason why working out here is such good fun. You don't get the kind of drug-associated violence and intimidation you get in Britain. I am not involved in the drug scene here, and there is no pressure to be involved."

Marks says the criminals have not transfomed into mafia-style gangs - yet: "I am the type of guy who tends to attract that kind of attention wherever I go, and I have to say I have not come across mafias in Ibiza. It is not the Spanish way. The scene is less organised than that at the moment, probably because security on the island on the whole is so poor and the police don't get uptight about who is selling what. The relationship between the clubs and the police is surprisingly good."

Techno fans in Ibiza are delighted. The conditions in Ibiza are as if especially created for them. Turner, who flew to the island to join 7.000 others at a Ministry of Sound evening at Pacha nightclub says: "Most of the people who go to Ibiza for the music don't get involved in any trouble, so what's the big deal? The island has a unique atmosphere. We have tried other places, such as Portugal and Cyprus. But nowhere else give you the freedom to misbehave."

The drug squad officers declare war to drug dealers. The number of Britons in nearest holiday will probably reach 2.000.000. Among them there will be more dealers and more drugs. Those dealers will surely become tighter and more aggressive gangs. As one of them says: "With so much money and so few controls, one day the place will explode."

Last summer a new kind of Britons came to Ibiza. Completly different from previous fat, drunk and delirious sex-tourists.

Before eleven o'clock San Antonio is a regular Spanish town. White small houses, narrow streets and a couple of elderly ladies on their way to church.

After eleven the town completly changes. Obese, dressed in knee-length shorts and a t-shirt with print regarding his belly "it's not fat, it's my sex maschine tank" Briton starts crawling towards the beach. Typical view of the British tourists. When he finally gets to the beach he starts almost 20 hours long party. Most of clubs are closed at about 4-5.00am. The streets become flooded with drunk youngsters.

The situation slightly changed last summer. Among those "party-people" appeared a group of surprisingly sober and fresh holidaymakers. It is a group of young christian missionaries. They were trying to help the unconscious, escort them to a taxi, sometimes give them a ride home. They were trying to help all these drunk souls. The group is called 24/7.

The seat of the 24/7 group is placed on "disco road" leading to Manumission-the biggest club in the world. The members of the group are not young christian fanatics. They do not differ from the rest of the tourists in Ibiza. "We love clubbing, otherwise we wouldn't be here", says Mark, "we pray in clubs". They work in groups of 7 and have a very heavy schedule. Things they do are cleaning the beaches, playing their music, talking about Christianity. The 24/7 group do not face any hostile attitude in Ibiza. "Here everything is accepted: sex, drugs, alcohol and even God," says Becs. She thinks that it would be much harder to do similar things in Britain. Every member of team is oblidged to obey strict rules (they are at work here): no alcohol, no drugs, no involvement in closer relationship with other team member. tonight the team was partying in Space(best world club 2001). James and Vicky were dancing for four hours with hands up in the air without any speed but God.

The idea of the action was put forward by the local parson Edrick Corban-Banks. According to the reverend the local inhabitants hate Britons but on the other hand they need their money. He says that it is good for the Ibizans to see the other kind of the British. "That group of young people goes to work full of faith," says Corban-Banks.

The whole town of San Antonio is very impressed by 24/7. There is even a documenary about them.

There's more to the island than the party scene. Far away from the clubbers and San Antonio, the real Ibizan magic and charm can be found in the still relatively undeveloped north-east of the island. There, amid the pine-clad hills, the beautiful agricultural heart of Ibiza still beats, the deep-red earth supporting groves of almonds, olives and oranges. By virtue of its isolation and precipitous coastal cliffs, the area also lays claim to some of the quietest beaches on the island.

Cala Benniras, about 5km north of Sant Miquel, is the long-standing hang-out of the island's dreadlocked division who also provide a dramatic drumming accompaniment to the sunset on Sundays. A little further east along the coast, Cala Xarraca is a great spot for swimming, while east of the quiet, unassuming village of Santa Carles lies Cala Mastella.

Some of Ibiza's most beautiful apartments and hotels are also found in the north of the island. Can Marti, placed among the hills outside Sant Joan lies at the end of a long road and is the very charcteristic for an Ibizan rural idyll.

If you should happen to gain consciousness during the daylight hours, don't neglect the beauty of the island itself - it's surprisingly easy to find the perfect secluded cove. If you want fire-twirling, nudity and a continuous soundtrack, on the other hand, then head south of Ibiza town for the beaches of Las Salinas and Es Cavallet. Beniras beach in the north of the island has sunset drumming and more of a hippy vibe, while some of the best beach bars can be found along Playa d'en Bossa. You could also try your luck at jet-skiing, water-skiing, banana and ringo rides on San Antonio's beaches. Learning to dive in Ibiza's clear waters is another good way to refresh.

Not only Ibiza

We should not forget about other islands and places of the region not only for clubbers. Here are some Places of strong recommendation

This is not the new Ibiza, but the holiday home of UK garage. Going out here costs a fraction of the price of a night in Ibiza, which means it tends to draw a younger, downmarket crowd. There are a lot of venues to choose from, many of them with new sound systems this year; most are clustered around Seferis Square in the centre of town.

With some of the best beaches on the island, Faliraki is where sun- loving fun-seekers head for. There are two help fully-named streets in Faliraki, Bar Street and Club Street - and that's really all you need to know.

Corfu's clubbing capital gets damn hot in the summer and visitors respond by being most active at night. Booze is cheap and the bars are heaving. Kavos is most lively during June, July, August and early September. Clubs and bars start to close around the third week in September, although the season continues until the end of October.

http://www.bangkok-private.com/ibiza_e/index.htm

http://wiem.onet.pl/wiem/000f34.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

http://www.wrx.zen.co.uk/britnews.htm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk

Forum, Seks, piwo i Bóg, nr 45, s. 32-33.

F. Northampton, Ibiza-a mediterraean lifestyle, Oldenburg 1999.