On July 7, the Balearic Government announced that nightclubs could resume activity, with restrictions, from tomorrow. The explosion of covid infections has dashed any hope for the large nightclubs, the spearhead of the nightlife sector, which accounted for 35% of Ibiza’s GDP before the pandemic. The island remains, however, the destination with the best visitor figures.
In the two summers prior to the covid pandemic, nightlife in Ibiza had a turnover of more than 500 million euros a year and claimed another 270 million euros contributed by segments fuelled by tourists attracted by its wide offering, such as nautical activities and restaurants. It also generated up to 35% of annual employment, according to the study presented in 2019 by Carles Manera, professor of Economic History at the University of the Balearic Islands, together with economist and cluster researcher Vanessa Rosselló.
Given these figures, one might think that Ibiza’s tourist industry is threatening to collapse after two summers without opening its big clubs. Pacha, Amnesia, Privilege, Hï, Eden, Heart, Es Paradís and DC10 are the spearhead of a leisure sector that also includes beach clubs and hotels that functioned as discotheques, which can remain open without holding their big parties and only with hotel activity.
The most important of the latter, Ushuaïa Ibiza, still does not know if it will open its doors this summer, as initially planned. The average daily expenditure of customers in this sector was 240 euros, “the same as that of a whole family after the sun and beach,” according to Manera.
“The world is not ending”
“Without nightclubs, it is clear that the figures of a normal year will not be recovered, but we see that the world is not ending and that we have movement this season,” stresses economist and vice president of the Confederation of Business Associations of the Balearic Islands José Antonio Rosselló. “In short, we will survive, but, in a way, we will miss them,” he says.
The month of June ended with 10,451 fewer temporary workers in the tourism sector than in 2019, when nearly three million tourists spent their holidays on the island. One group that has been particularly affected by the lack of activity is that of DJs, who this summer have created the association DJ’s i Productors d’Ibiza i Formentera (Dipef).
20% of DJs working
The catalyst for this union of professionals was a controversial agreement by the Balearic government on 21 May banning DJ performances, which was rectified after protests on 1 June. Despite health restrictions preventing dancing and the opening of discotheques, Ibiza continues to offer music sessions in hotels, beach clubs, restaurants, street markets and countless bars.
35% Employment generated by the leisure industry
The study on leisure in Eivissa indicates that it generated 35% of employment on the island.
35% Of Gross Domestic Product on the island
Companies linked to this sector accounted for 35% of the island’s GDP in 2018.
“It is working 20% of what would be usual in another summer,” details the president of Dipef, Domenico Daniello, who is event manager of the Heart nightclub. He estimates that, apart from the big international stars who played every night, the island can count on a thousand DJs working in a normal summer.
This group hoped to recover the activity from tomorrow, the date announced by the Balearic Government for the opening of the clubs on July 7. At the beginning of the month, the cumulative incidence of covid for 14 days in Ibiza was 97.5 cases per thousand inhabitants, compared to the 1,249 recorded on Friday.
This explosion of infections has ruined all aspirations to open the nightclubs. Ocio de Ibiza had proposed to the Govern to accept only customers with a full vaccination schedule when the outlook was still favorable. “Although there is part of the sector in operation, the nightclubs are where the most money moves and economically it is a blow,” confesses the manager of this employer, José Luis Benitez.
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