IBIZA, Spain, June 25 — A crowd dances to the pulsing beat of electronic music, hands in the air, at the Pacha nightclub near the main marina on the Spanish holiday island of Ibiza.“It is like Covid never happened inside here,” said Michelle, a 31-year-old British healthcare worker at the entrance to the club, which is packed with 3,500 people.
“We still can’t say for certain that the numbers will be better than 2019, but everything indicates yes.” The pandemic affected all sectors but the leisure sector — which employs over 3,000 people directly and indirectly — was the last to fully open up after virus restrictions were lifted. They point out that Ibiza and the neighbouring island of Formentera drew 1.9 million tourists in 2021, a little more than half pre-pandemic numbers, even though most nightclubs were shut.
The influx causes traffic problems and has been blamed for a rise in crime related to the drug trade as well as a shortage of housing for locals.The regional government of the Balearic Islands, of which Ibiza is part, said it is working to strike a balance between tourism and sustainability. “But it is not the case anymore that the tourism season started when the nightclubs opened and ended then they closed.”
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