Ibiza; we spend a lot of time talking about what’s going on there at the moment, but perhaps not as much as we should about its past.
In her next couple of Ibiza blogs Jelena will be putting things right, looking at the history of the White Isle from the California Summer of Love right up until the present day. Ibiza education, here we come…
Did you know that according to one of Nostradamus’ predictions, Ibiza would be the last resort on earth where life would be able to procreate after the Apocalypse? Well, he did. Did you also know that no poisonous plants or animals have survived on the Ibiza soil? The Phoenicians first discovered this centuries ago, proclaiming the island a sacred ground where the most prominent of them would arrive on their final journey for their bodies to be buried and watched by the Gods eternally.
Prophecies and agriculture aside, over the next couple of blog entries I will be taking you thru a blitz journey through the recent history of the island, beginning with the first tourism boom in the early 70s and the arrival of the first hippies, to the birth of Acid House and the wonderful world of clubbing we know Ibiza for today.
After the Californian Summer of Love was over and powered by a strong Peseta devaluation in Spain, Ibiza and Formentera became a refuge to a large amount of hippies, to the surprise of the local fishermen and salt field workers. And we’re not talking about the Hippies we know today – the ones that wear Gucci and Prada while they stay at their pool-equipped villas but still dance barefoot to the sunset drums at Benirras bay. These guys were the real deal, refusing to follow the Western capitalist ways, worshiping nature, growing their own fruits and vegetables, dedicating themselves to manufacturing clothes and jeweler and surviving by their own means (although some of the luckier ones would receive occasional cash injections from sympathetic relatives from abroad).
San Carlos’ bar Anita was a regular haunt for the hippies. Ana, the owner, embraced them and allowed them to eat and drink for free in exchange for them playing some music on the restaurant’s beautiful patio or for the pieces of art that still grace the walls of this very picturesque venue over which time does not seem to pass.
Over 400 mailboxes are placed on the bar’s walls still today as the restaurant now serves as the San Carlos and surrounding areas post office, and some of the hippies would receive those important donations right into those boxes at the bar, giving Ana a guarantee that her hospitality would not go enitirely unpaid for.
Bar Anita today is home to the most succulent tapas and homemade Hierbas money can buy. Patrons of the bar are advised however, that on occasions you may be required to leave your Hierbas glass on the table and direct the odd tourist bus around the very narrow curve which Bar Anita is situated on, right in front of the San Carlos church.
Very close to Anita’s bar is the Hippy Market Las Dalias. With a very similar history, Las Dalias holds the title of the first Ibiza bar that his owner, Juan Mari, opened on November 4th 1954 (the date of San Carlos Festivity). Back then drinks were only 1 peseta a glass and the bar took around 6,600 pesetas on the night (approximately 30GBP). With the arrival of the ‘peluts’ (the name the locals called the Hippies, literally meaning “the hairy ones”) and the Hippy Market of Es Canar in the early seventies, Las Dalias became the first official after hours venue in the world. It was then the home of the Hippy Market after-party (in)famous for its improvised jam sessions in the garden. The locals fondly remember that Bob Marley, after a concert in Ibiza’s bull fighting ring, went there for dinner and played some tunes.
Contrary to the Ibiza’s two hippy markets today, their Formentera counterpart, held every Wednesday and Saturday during the summer season, stays true to its hippy roots and no-one can sell any goods there if they are not in a possession of the artisanal certificate issued by the local authority. Formentera meanwhile has one of the most beautiful stories of how the hippy movement has influenced the local history and economy.
Juan was the warden of the small island next to Formentera called Espalmador where he lived with his wife Andrea and their kids. Each morning, he would get into his little boat and take his kids to the main Island to school and to do some shopping for the day. It was on the Illetes beach where he saw the first ‘peluts’ sitting on the sand and playing their guitars.
Shortly after he became close to the group and began barbecuing meat and vegetables so they could have a home cooked meal every now and then. This was the beginning of what we know today as the ‘Juan y Andrea’ restaurant on the Illetes beach in Formentera. Now famous for catering to the most impressive yachts on one of the most spectacular beaches of the Mediterranean and gracing the pages of many socialite magazines, the ‘Juan y Andrea’ restaurant has much to thank to the first hippies that came to Formentera in the seventies.
To be continued…!
Till next week,
Jelena xx
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