Spain Guide
The Balearic Islands
Ibiza
IBIZA, or Eivissa in Catalan, is an island of excess – beautiful, and blessed with scores of stunning cove beaches and dense pine forests. Nevertheless, it's the islanders (eivissencs) and their visitors who make it special. Ibiza has long attracted hedonistic characters and wealthy bohemians, and the locals remain determinedly blasé about the mullet-haired fashionistas and celebrities who flock to the island today.
For years, Ibiza was the European hippie escape, but nowadays most people come here to experience its extraordinary clubbing scene. The island can lay claim to being the globe's clubbing capital, with virtually all of the world's top house DJs performing here during the summer season. However, visit between October and May, and you'll find a much more peaceful island – just one club (Pacha) and a few funky bars remain open through the winter. Ibiza Town, the capital, is the obvious place to base yourself: only a short bus ride from two great beaches and crammed with bars, restaurants and boutiques. The other main towns – Sant Antoni and Santa Eulària – are far less cosmopolitan and interesting. Around the entire shoreline, you'll find dozens of exquisite cove beaches (calas), many all but deserted even in high season.
Salt attracted the Greeks, and after them the Phoenicians and Carthaginians. Under Roman rule, the island continued to prosper, but thereafter a gradual decline set in, and from medieval times until the early twentieth century Ibiza was an impoverished backwater. Beatniks discovered the island in the 1950s, and Ibiza began to reinvent itself.
Today, Ibiza's tourism-driven prosperity has seen more and more coastline consumed by development. Property prices are astronomical, and road-building has besmirched the southern half. Yet despite these pressures, Ibiza's natural allure still remains compelling, and it's not hard to find a pristine cove beach or a lonely forested trail to explore if you make the effort.
There's a good bus service between Ibiza Town, Sant Antoni, Santa Eulària, Portinatx, the airport and a few of the larger beaches. In summer, boats from the three main towns serve various destinations along the coast. However, renting a car or moped will widen your options.