I’m happily tucking into some fabulous chunks of octopus and a deliciously
fluffy spinach tortilla, but all I can think about is the damn elephant. I
can’t see it, but I know it’s there, the elephant in the room, and it’s –
surely – about to knock over my wine. Because this can’t be right.
This great little place, El Rincon de Pepe, which was opened by the titular
Pepe Rosello in 1962 and is still serving world-class tapas, is right in the
middle of a war zone. No, not Afghanistan. San Antonio, Ibiza.
San Antonio, and specifically Carrer de Santa Agnes – better known as the West
End – is widely agreed to be the spiritual home of the Brits Abroad, the
oiks and the chavs, with their overstretched England shirts and their
all-inclusive aggro. And I’m sitting in the middle of it with my octopus,
calm as you like.
We know about the horror of the West End because, like all war zones, we saw
it on the telly. Ibiza Uncovered, the documentary that began on Sky One in
1997, showed gangs of orcs – long before that particular species was made
fashionable by The Lord of the Rings – dressed solely in tattoos, fighting
and fornicating their way through a holiday in Ibiza’s prime tourist centre,
Sant Antoni de Portmany.
And because, in the modern way, a camera crew was there to record it all, the
reputation of the fishing town that had been the gateway to this beautiful
island for tourists and travellers for years was destroyed.
TIME HAS a remarkably elastic quality in Ibiza (that is, everybody’s late yet
nobody’s in a hurry), so it might come as little surprise that it has taken
San Antonio’s governing body so long to do anything to address this
perception.
But it looks like, after a decade’s siesta, they’ve finally got round to it.
The town is shaking off its hangover and smartening up – subjecting itself
not so much to a face-lift as a full-body peel.
The first sign of this reimagining appeared a few years ago, when work began
to modernise the marina. These days, nautical tourism is big business: the
amount of money moored and gently bobbing in Ibiza Town’s port over the past
few years has been staggering. And if P Diddy and his minted chums can be
persuaded to relinquish their berths there and zip round the coast to San
An, they need to be met with facilities that live up to their exacting
standards.
Which is why an Irish investment firm has recently been given permission to
build San Antonio’s first five-star hotel. A £2m sports complex with
swimming pools, football pitches and cycling tracks is already under
construction; and a new medical centre will be ready by 2009. A bus station,
with its enormous surfboard roof, opened last year – though, admittedly,
that might not see much use from Diddy.
Something that has changed since he last visited, however, is the new
promenade that links Cara del Rey, or the sunset strip – where Café del Mar,
Café Mambo and Savannah are situated – with Calo d’es Moro, its northern
brother, home to Kasbah, Golden Buddha and Coastline, bars that also offer
decent cocktails and excellent views of the sun sinking into the ocean.
As Andy Cato from Ibiza veterans Groove Armada says: “You can now walk almost
a mile along the beach walkway and never be further than 10ft from a cold
beer, a nice bit of dinner and a beautiful sunset.” And it means you – and
everyone else waiting but pretending that they’re actually much happier
standing – no longer have to do that desperate dash every time anyone looks
like they’re leaving their table.
Another significant change this season is a new hotel opening in the centre of
the town. The Ibiza Rocks Hotel (www.ibizarockshotel.com)
is an extension of the Ibiza Rocks brand that successfully introduced
guitars and skinny jeans to the island four years ago, after 15 years of
drum machines and smiley T-shirts.
Proprietors Andy Mackay and his wife Dawn have taken over the former Club
Paraiso Mediterraneo, a large hotel on Calle Cervantes, which now, after a
bit of a refit, boasts its own concert venue for 500 people, an
Xbox-sponsored lounge and penthouse apartments, as well as more than 350
rooms.
Having toured the hotel prelaunch – it officially opened last night with a
sold-out party featuring the Enemy – I can tell you the basic rooms are not
particularly sophisticated. But they are hugely affordable – from £10pp a
night in low season to £30pp high season, based on three people sharing –
which opens things up to an under25 market that has increasingly been priced
off the island. And the public spaces are undeniably cool, edgy and like
nothing offered here before.
“We’re already beginning to attract a much younger, cooler clientele to the
town,” says Mackay. “Pretty soon it’s going to be harder for people to look
down their nose at San Antonio.” Certainly, the make-up of the crowd at
Ibiza Rocks over the past few years is noticeably younger and fresher than
those going to clubs such as Pacha – which is not surprising.
You need to be a thirtysomething committed raver (even if your Ibizan holiday
constitutes the only raving you get to do any more) to countenance paying
£50 to get into a club that will charge you almost that again for a couple
of drinks.
Something else that will help San An’s image is Pete Tong’s decision to leave
Pacha, arguably the most sophisticated club franchise in the world (and in
Ibiza Town), and move to a new night, at Eden, in San An.
This is not your usual DJ transfer, either. It’s one of the most influential
names in dance music turning his back on traditional – meaning
sophisticated, exclusive, expensive – Ibiza to embrace the new emerging
force.
The night, Wonderland, sees Tong team up with GA/Lovebox in the backroom, and
he’s confident that the lineup will persuade clubbers to follow him over to
San Antonio.
“Nothing stays the same for ever,” he says. “The reality of Ibiza Uncovered
and crowds of football shirts throwing up everywhere is long gone.” Tong,
who has been DJing at Café Mambo every Friday night for five years, rents
the same house in San Antonio every summer, and is another who has had
enough of the area’s tired reputation: “The place just needs a little TLC
and a bit of PR, because all the elements are there.”
And it’s those elements that the council is now keen to trumpet. As one of the
biggest districts in Ibiza, San Antonio is far more than kebab alley; far
more, even, than a sunset. It has all the restaurants, the bars, the
beaches, the plush agroturismos and boutique hotels that a
sophisticated San An-avoiding snob could ask for.
No, it’s not going to turn into a swish, seductive Alist hangout overnight,
but give it time and an open mind, and you never know. And there’s always
that lovely little tapas restaurant you can go to...
— Paul Croughton travelled as a guest of the Ibiza Rocks Hotel
Travel details: there are summer flights to Ibiza from more than 20 UK
airports. Airlines flying to the island include EasyJet (www.easyjet.com),
Thomsonfly (www.thomsonfly.com),
Monarch (0870 040 5040, www.flymonarch.com),
Jet2 (0871 226 1737, www.jet2.com),
British Airways (0844 493 0787, www.ba.com)
and Fly Thomas Cook (www.flythomascook.com).
Ibiza: the smart guide
Serena Cook, head of the Ibizan concierge service Deliciously Sorted,
recommends the destinations that will change your opinion of San Antonio, as
well as some brand-new hot spots on the rest of the island.
SAN ANTONIO
Sa Capella (00 34-971 340057), one of the island’s best and most
beautiful restaurants, is set in a 400-year-old church. Ask for an
atticotable, above the main dining room, and go for the ox cooked on salt on
a hot stone slab. Delicious.
Cala Salada (971 342867) is a cute little beach that boasts an
outstanding fish restaurant of the same name on the rocks above the water.
Have the squid.
Plastik (600 688158) is the smartest bar in San An. Great music, good
drinks and a fine spot next door to Eden for Wonderland, or Bar M for Ibiza
Rocks.
Es Cucons (www.escucons.com;
doubles from €230, mid-season) is a beautiful rural hotel set among the
almond trees near Santa Ines, and is immeasurably peaceful. This summer,
it’s opening a small, Es Cucons tastefully appointed spa, too.
El Chiringuito (971 348338) is an excellent place overlooking one of
the best, if one of the smallest, beaches on the island, Cala Gracioneta.
Run by Javier Anadon, who also owns Café Mambo, it does a mean paella. Ask
for a shandy with fresh lemonade.
REST OF THE ISLAND
Ocho (971 807308), run by the former owners of Las Banderas in
Formentera, promises Mediterranean food in a beautiful garden setting. Opens
June 5.
L’Eléphant (971 198056) has adapted to the new noise
regulations by opening a soundproofed bar and dancing area next to the
restaurant. Clever.
Aura (971 325356) has been newly revamped and is now a luxurious lounge
bar and restaurant, serving tapas. Worth a try.
Cap d’es Falco (971 324082) will have as good a sunset as you’ll
see anywhere. Under new Italian ownership with a proper Italian mamma at the
oven. It’s not easy to find; phone for directions.
The Spa at the Gran Hotel (971 806850) offers respite after all that
eating, drinking and dancing. Detox in the beautiful Zen spa. www.deliciouslysortedibiza.com
