“Our father was not afraid. In the Civil War, he was in a barbershop near Plaça de sa Font when some planes arrived and the alarms began to sound over Ibiza. Everyone ran to the air-raid shelters, but he, who was half shaved, stayed inside waiting. When it was all over, the barber came back and my father told him that he had stayed because he had to pay him”, the sisters laughingly recall. Maria Serra, who is 104 years old, and Antonia, who celebrated her 99th birthday on January 8. Both have an enviable memory to recalling a century of history on Ibiza with their numerous anecdotes and the experiences of their father, Joan Serra, of Can Fèlix, the last miller of es Puig des Molins.
There is still a day to go before the sisters welcome the rest of their relatives to their home on Ibiza to celebrate their eldest sister’s birthday. They have no children and are accompanied by their niece Fina and their carer, Bilma Soto. The table in their living room is already decorated for the occasion with balloons, flowers and some vintage photos.
Maria celebrated her birthday yesterday with her relatives. D.I.
La ‘fuita’
“This one is missing our brother Juanito, who was not born yet”, they clarify. In the picture they pose with their other two sisters, Margalida and Esperanza. “They called her this because it was believed that, with this name, the next to be born was a son”, Antonia explains. “As I was the older sister, I always had to take care of the little ones and help my mother with the housework,” says Maria.
In the family photograph, the traditional dress worn by her mother, Margalida Ferrer, a pagesa de sa Fita, in Sant Rafel, stands out. The father, on the other hand, wears a modern-looking suit for the time.
As the rafalers were not amused that a vilero was courting a girl from the village, the couple resorted to a fuita, an agreed escape to get married. The bride’s brother agreed to take her down to Vila on Ibiza hidden in a cart. The next day, seeing that the daughter was no longer at home, the parents could agree to talk about the wedding.
Maria, standing between her parents, and Antonia, on the left of the picture, with her sisters Esperanza (the youngest) and Margalida. D.I.
Joan continued his activity as a miller until the Civil War. “One day we were walking in Dalt Vila when we saw seven republican ships arriving to Ibiza. When we arrived home, they began to shoot at the Castle”, they remember, still with some sorrow. Then, they went to take refuge in their grandparents’ house in Sant Rafel.
In other moments of alarm, they took shelter under their neighbors’ house, Molí d’en Pep Joan. “Our father stayed on the roof, with their grandfather, to see the planes. He used to say that those little birds couldn’t take off his hat”.
Joan de Can Fèlix resorted to a ‘fuita‘ with his girlfriend from Sant Rafel, Margalida, in order to get married
From mill to the Ibiza party hall
From 1940, the mills could only be operational if they provided a minimum production, so Joan never went back to milling grain again. From then on, the family managed with the rest of the agricultural activities that they could manage in Can Fèlix along with some farm animals.
In addition to the pig and some chickens and rabbits, they had a herd of goats that they kept in a cave. In 1951, the cave became the dance floor of the first night club on Ibiza, the Mar Blau, founded by Maria and Antonia’s younger brother, Juanito.
At first, when they took the goats out of their new pen to eat herbs, they ended up returning to the cave after grazing in es Molins. “For them it was their home, so we had to wait for them at the foot of the track to keep them out and take them back to the stable.”
María and Antonia, on the right, with their siblings Juanito and Esperanza and their niece Rosa. JA RIERA
Mar Blau was located at the foot of the inn of the same name, which was run by relatives to whom they sold the land to build the establishment, but they were two different businesses.
The hall became quite an event for the time and one of the great pioneers of leisure, for tourists and residents, offering a program of shows ranging from musical performances to Adlib fashion shows or miss elections.
In the Mar Blau hall performed renowned artists of the time, such as the Dúo Dinámico or Sara Montiel
“Before there was some place where dances were held, but here caused a big stir. It had a fixed orchestra and they began to bring organized tourist groups in buses one day a week to have parties”, they remember.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.