“Eivissa caput mundi”. This is how the painter Mario Arlati describes the island where he has lived for 52 years. Like Rome in its day, today the Pitiusa is like a miniature world capital that never stops reinventing itself. It is enough to visit the inland town of Santa Gertrudis to be aware of the latest trends. Not so long ago there was only a church, a school, a tobacconist and a couple of bars. Now home to organic coffee shops, concept boutiques, art galleries, yoga clubs, and a branch of Il Buco restaurant (which has locations in Manhattan and the Hamptons).
This island of just over 570 km2 began its cosmopolitan transformation in the mid-50s, when the counterculture settled there. Those beat artists or writers found the perfect place to make their motto “live and let live” come true. They were the step prior to the hippy landing in Eivissa and Formentera, which were part of the hippie trail, the pilgrimage of free love and drugs that passed through San Francisco, Kathmandu, Goa and Amsterdam in the 60s and 70s. It was then that the painter Mario Arlati became fascinated by their colors. Shortly after, the music promoter Pino Sagliocco and his wife, Lorena Giavalisco, arrived. Now the three of them are privileged neighbors of the Ses Salines natural park.
Eivissa caput mundi reinvented itself once again when many London nightclubs opted to move their business to the island, which became a mecca for clubbers and electronic music, with tourists from all over Europe arriving on charter flights to give it their all in its discos.
However, “there has never been so little music in Eivissa”, explains Sagliocco, the man who took Mick Jagger to Moncloa and who brought together Freddy Mercury and Monteserrat Caballé in the Barcelona anthem. It is clear that the promoter of tours as important as Elton John’s or Madonna’s is not passionate about a certain type of music.
In fact, when asked about his favorite venues in Eivissa, Pino Sagliocco, who has produced festivals such as La Nit, Rock in Río or the Ibiza 123 Festival and who has been the manager of Joaquín Cortés, chooses precisely those few that “do not have music, are not invaded by noise and allow you to talk with friends over a pleasant after-dinner meal”. In October he will take OCO, The Show, to Madrid, a groundbreaking bet of contemporary flamenco turned to rock.
But despite the changes on the island, the music promoter continues to love this haven that he returns to after traveling the world. “Eivissa opens its doors to everyone, it is an island that has no taboos, it allows you to be who you are, without labels. I have never worried on this island what they will think of me.
The most brilliant stars of international music have passed through the house of the president of Live Nation Spain, and together with his wife, Lorena, they act as discreet hosts. Also unofficial ambassadors of the island, although the businessman regrets how the world of concerts has been transformed: “Before, the artists would arrive several days before the show, you could live with them, now everything is too dizzying.”
Arlati, a great friend of Sagliocco, nostalgically remembers some of Eivissa’s illustrious residents: “Pink Floyd and Peter Lindberg are no longer there. Neither does the Van der Voort gallery…” But the island as an inspiration remains. Those fields of Sant Agustí, Sant Mateu, Sant Miquel or the sunsets and sunrises on the beaches that for five decades have given color to their rags and incomplete flags are still there.
Beyond the continuous partying or the frenzy of summer, creatives from all over the world continue to come to the island to live all year round. Many choose the less hectic northern half or the interior. And many go to Eva del Pino to find a home. The former trend hunter got tired of all the frenzy and found the ideal place to raise her son. “I focused on houses that no real estate agency wanted, the authentic country houses, with charm. They are complicated because they are protected by heritage and building permits can take up to five years. But it is what clients with more culture and sensitivity are looking for, fashionistas, photographers, film directors, and also from the world of technology. They like to live in the countryside in beautiful and authentic places.”
They are very basic houses that grew at the rate that the family did, with thick whitewashed walls, juniper beams, small windows and rustic doors without frames. Before, the hippies were the only ones interested in them, now the starting price of a house of about 250 square meters to be completely renovated does not fall below two million euros.
The best Ibiza, Eva del Pino’s agency is not a real estate agency to use, but a buying agency. They buy on behalf of customers who arrive by private plane to take a look or even sign without seeing them. Some are billionaire techies in their thirties. And for some time the presence of Dutch has increased, perhaps due to the harsh quarantine that existed in the Netherlands.
One of Del Pino’s favorite houses is a rustic finca in Sant Mateu. For the main house, with a vineyard, he already has a client who will pay 15 million euros. However, he cautions about the importance of being honest. “We live on an island of pirates. Everyone does real estate. There is a lot of informal economy with intermediaries and a lot of money moves, but you have to be serious in this job”. And to break other clichés, he clarifies: “People think that we are on holiday all day, but we work 12 hours a day.” She spends the day hooked on the phone and videoconferences with her international clients, but she bathes in the sea in the morning after leaving her son at her school, she does not forgive him, whether it is winter or summer.
The b-side of exclusive expatriate luxury housing is that there are no flats to house doctors or teachers, for example. “I understand that they go to any part of Spain, with what they charge and the price of housing, this is not quality of life,” says Del Pino.
Roberta Jurado, interior designer for Romano Arquitectos, has lived in Santa Agnès for 26 years. In her adolescence, as a summer vacationer, she moved around Pacha and Ku and when she settled on the island she was already at the height of Space. “Now everyone wants to look at themselves in Eivissa and, on the contrary, the island is taking a wabi-sabi look as a reference, as can be seen in Tulum”, she explains. She sees the beauty in the stone walls and the old peasant women -yes, few but there are still peasants of the usual in Eivissa- who are found in her walks. But he warns that urban environments are growing without safeguarding green spaces, “this is a mistake, keeping areas that are kinder to nature is not taken into account” and he is saddened by “ugly urban planning, like parking lots without a single tree”.
Faced with those regulars who flee the island when summer arrives, Jurado explains: “I don’t like people who say they hate summer. I appreciate these two seasons: the friends who come on vacation and then the winter cocooning. I like that progression.” He also defends tourism, which, although it overcrowds and makes everything more expensive, “feeds a lot of people.”
