IBIZA – The Island Party
April 30, 2009
Mix electronic music culture from 1970s Britain with a spectacular island culture and what do you wind up with? You wind up with Ibiza, the premiere party island in the Mediterranean Sea.
Once people discovered this potent combination, they started arriving in droves. It’s been a yearlong party since it began, and attendees still argue about when it truly began.
It is difficult to describe; trying to, you’re likely to run out of paper. For years, clubs like Amnesia, DC-10, Privilege, Space and Pacha, have provided an almost nonstop party. The memories of the crowd, the music, and the sex on the beach, never fade.
Recently, the Spanish police on the island have cracked down on Ibiza’s drug-fuelled revelry. Closure notices have been served to other famous dance clubs, such as the previously mentioned Amnesia and DC-10.
The notices, paired with fines, ordered the clubs to close for a month or more after being accused of turning a blind eye to drug dealing and drug consumption on their premises.
Clubbers from Britain, after hearing the news, have reportedly begun canceling trips to the party destination. It’s a serious blow to tourism there, since the island becomes the global capital of clubbing in the summer.
Local authorities are attempting to minimize a holiday drug culture threatening to spiral out of control now that British trafficking gangs and newcomers from Russia and Romania have begun exchanging gunfire.
A lack of resources leads to problems in eliminating these problems. The poor DSL connection on the island prevents recently installed CCTV cameras from working, and the customs boat is so tragically understaffed that it has failed to make an arrest since it was started two years ago.
Tourism is extremely important to native citizens, but the sheer number of drug dealers, coupled with limited resources and political will on the island, makes it difficult for police to keep tourists safe.
If Ibiza was on your list for summer hot spots, you should check the news before making plans and perhaps wait until the real season starts in June. Things could improve by then, and there may be more safety – and more fun – in greater numbers.































