Power cuts, flooding and lost stock have disrupted businesses in Ibiza’s historic La Marina district. Los Valencianos ice cream shop estimates losses of up to €20,000, Bar La Estrella has remained closed, and Zoo Bar has decided to end its season early after another flood.
Storm Adam has left more than flooded streets in Ibiza’s port. Businesses in La Marina, the historic harbour district, are dealing with the consequences of heavy rainfall, including power cuts, financial losses and temporary closures.
On Monday, some businesses around Antoni Riquer Square had been unable to operate normally since Sunday evening, while others decided to bring their tourist season to an early end.
One of the worst-affected businesses is Los Valencianos, where manager Daniel Lloyd estimates that losses of stock could reach between €15,000 and €20,000. A power cut that began at 9.05pm on Sunday, according to Lloyd, left the ice cream shop’s freezers out of action.
“We’ve already lost the whole day. I’ve had to throw away all the ice cream we had in the shop,” Lloyd says, explaining that the products stored in the freezers melted completely.
Asked about the financial impact, he estimates the losses at “maybe €15,000 or €20,000”.
The business still has stock in another storage facility that was unaffected by the outage. Even so, Lloyd says the incident represents a major financial setback at the end of the season.
“It’s a huge financial blow at the end of a season,” he says. “We have fewer staff now and a lot of hours to work. We’ll do everything we can to make sure people in Ibiza can continue enjoying our ice cream.”
“This Has Been Happening for 30 or 40 Years”
Lloyd says electricity supply problems in this part of the port are nothing new. According to his account, periods of heavy rain repeatedly cause flooding that affects electrical transformers.
“The first problem is that the drainage system fails completely, which is why the transformer gets flooded. That’s where the electricity supply for the area comes from,” he says.
Lloyd claims that three transformers in La Marina were flooded during the storm and that businesses around Antoni Riquer Square were among the last to resume normal operations.
“This is still happening. It’s been going on for 30 or 40 years — the same thing all our lives,” he says.
He also questions why the electrical installations are underground and, according to him, below sea level — a situation he considers particularly problematic during periods of intense rainfall.
The Los Valencianos manager says technicians attended to repair the fault and, as far as he understands, had to replace a transformer that developed problems. However, he argues that individual repairs do not address a situation that has persisted for years.
“The problem is that it keeps happening and nobody does anything to change it,” he says.
Lloyd also criticises the maintenance of the drainage system. He says Antoni Riquer Square was completely flooded during Sunday’s rainfall and accumulated water again during a further spell of heavy rain on Monday morning.
“I know there were a lot of litres of rain and they’ll say the drains couldn’t cope. But if the drainage system is clean, it should be able to cope,” he argues.
He says the consequences extend beyond local businesses: power cuts also affect residents and people who rely on lifts in their buildings.
Shops Forced to Close as Cruise Passengers Ask What Happened
Other businesses around Antoni Riquer Square have faced similar disruption. Lloyd names Los Valencianos, Bar La Estrella and Boutique Amanecer among those affected by the power cut.
“All the businesses in the square have had the same problem,” he says.
Some, including Bar La Estrella, have kept their doors shut, while others have tried to open despite the difficulties.
“There’s no electricity, so you can’t work. We’ve all been standing around with our hands tied, waiting for a response from the electricity distributor to tell us what was happening,” Lloyd says.
The lack of activity has also surprised some tourists arriving at the port on cruise ships. According to Lloyd, several visitors asked why so many businesses were closed.
“People from the cruise ship said to us: ‘What’s happened in Ibiza? We’ve come ashore and everyone is closed.’ I explained that the power had been cut,” he recalls.
Storm Adam Brings Zoo Bar’s Season to an Early End
At Zoo Bar, diagonally opposite Los Valencianos, the storm has also caused problems, although the manager says the business managed to avoid more serious damage this time.
The bar suffered minor flooding, far less severe than the incident last year, when water reportedly reached a depth of one metre inside the premises.
“Last year, we were hit quite badly by the storm because we had a metre of water inside,” the manager says.
Following that experience, the business invested in drainage pumps to prepare for future flooding. The equipment helped them manage the latest incident more effectively.
“This year, we actually handled it pretty well. The pumps we bought last year helped us deal with the flooding again,” the manager explains.
However, the power cut created another obstacle.
“The only bad thing was that the whole area lost electricity. When you lose power, the pumps can’t work,” he says.
Like Lloyd, the manager points to the underground electrical installations as a possible source of the area’s recurring problems.
“I think there’s a problem in this area because the electricity transformers are underground. They fill with water and blow up,” he says, describing what he believes happens based on his experience.
After the latest disruption caused by Storm Adam, Zoo Bar has decided not to reopen this season.
“With what happened during the storm, we said: ‘Right, that’s it. That’s the end of our season,’” the manager says. The business expects to resume operations next year.
A Difficult Season for Businesses in Ibiza’s Port
The storm has brought a difficult season to an end for some businesses in Ibiza’s harbour district. The Zoo Bar manager describes the summer as “a rather strange season” and believes that difficulties accessing the port have also affected local establishments.
For these traders, Storm Adam is another setback after an already challenging tourist season. While some are working to reopen as soon as possible, others have closed their doors until next year.