Ibiza

thumb|242px|View of the port from the ramparts.

Ibiza (Eivissa in its official form) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea 79 km off the coast of the city of Valencia in Iberian Peninsula Spain. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, an autonomous community of Spain. With Formentera, it is one of the two Pine Islands or Pityuses. Its largest cities are Ibiza Town (Catalan:Vila d'Eivissa or simply Vila), Santa Eulària des Riu and Sant Antoni de Portmany.

Eivissa is the official Catalan name (, locally ). The name in Spanish is Ibiza . In British English, the name is usually pronounced in an approximation of the Spanish (), while in American English the pronunciation is more anglicized (,Random House dictionary American Heritage dictionary).

The island is well-known for its summer club parties which attract large numbers of tourists, but the island and the Spanish Tourist Office have been working to shed the prevailing "sex-and-alcohol" image in order to promote more family-oriented tourism.BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Ibiza: Still having it large? Noted clubs include Space, Pacha, Privilege (ex Ku), Amnesia, DC10, Eden, El Divino, Es Paradis, and Café del Mar. It is also home to the 'West End' party district of Sant Antoni, a popular stop for many tourists.

History

thumb|left|225px|Old city of Ibiza Town.

In 654 BC Phoenician settlers founded a port in the Balearic Islands, as Ibossim (from the Phoenician iboshim dedicated to the god of the music and dance Bes).Ibiza Literature,Literature in Ibiza It was later known to Romans as "Ebusus". The Greeks, who came to Ibiza during the time of the Phoenicians, were the first to call the two islands of Ibiza and Formentera the Pityûssai (', "pine-covered islands"; a translation of the Phoenician name).Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon With the decline of Phoenicia after the Assyrian invasions, Ibiza came under the control of Carthage, also a former Phoenician colony. The island produced dye, salt, fish sauce ( garum), and wool.

A shrine with offerings to the goddess Tanit was established in the cave at Es Culleram, and the rest of the Balearic Islands entered Eivissa's commercial orbit after 400 BC. Ibiza was a major trading post along the Mediterranean routes. Ibiza began establishing its own trading stations along the nearby Balearic island of Majorca such as Na Guardis, from which large quantities of renowned Balearic slingers were hired as mercenaries who fought for Carthage.

During the Second Punic War, the island was assaulted by the two Scipio brothers in 209 BC but remained loyal to Carthage. With Carthaginian military luck running out on the Iberian mainland, Ibiza was last used by the fleeing Carthaginian General Mago to gather supplies and men before sailing to Minorca and then to Liguria. Ibiza negotiated a favorable treaty with the Romans, which spared Ibiza from further destruction and allowed it to continue its Carthaginian-Punic institutions well into the Empire days, when it became an official Roman municipality. For this reason, Ibiza today offers excellent examples of late Carthaginian-Punic civilization. During the Roman Empire, the island became a quiet imperial outpost, removed from the important trading routes of the time.

After the fall of the Roman empire and a brief period of first Vandal and then Byzantine rule, the island was conquered by the Moors, as well as much of the Iberian peninsula. Under Islamic rule, Ibiza came in close contact with the city of Dénia (the closest port in the nearby Iberian peninsula, located in the Valencian Community) as the two areas were administered jointly by the same taifa. Moreover, the tribes who lived in Ibiza and Denia during the period 1060–1085 were Moorish tribes named Bno-Alaglab & Bano-Mujahed.

The island was reclaimed for Christendom by Aragonese King James I of Aragon in 1235. Since then, the island has had its own self-government in several forms but in 1715 King Philip V of Spain abolished the local government's autonomy. The arrival of democracy in the late 1970s led to the Statute of Autonomy of the Balearic Islands. Today the island is part of the Balearic Autonomous Community, along with Majorca, Minorca and Formentera.

Geography

Ibiza is a part of a group of the western Balearic archipelago called the Pitiusas or "Pine Islands" composed of itself and Formentera. The Balearic island chain includes over fifty islands, many of them uninhabited.

Climate

The climate of Ibiza is Mediterranean and has milder winters but slightly cooler summers than Majorca. The winters are generally mild with temperatures around during the day and at night. The hottest time of the year is July and August with temperatures reaching most afternoons. The lowest recorded temperature in Ibiza is , the highest is .

660px|center|thumb|Panoramic view of Cala d’Hort

People

Demographically, Ibiza display a very peculiar configuration, as census agencies diverge on exact figures. According to the 2001 national census, Ibiza had 93,000 inhabitants (against 76,000 in 1991, 64,000 in 1981, 45,000 in 1971, and 38,000 in 1961). However, two years later, this figure jumped to 108,000 (Govern de les Illes Balears - IBAE 2004). This discrepancy stems from the amnesty which incorporated a number of unregistered foreign migrants. In terms of origin, about 55 per cent of island residents were born in Ibiza, 35 per cent are immigrants from mainland Spain (mostly working-class families from Andalusia, and the remainder from Catalonia, Valencia and Castilla), and the about remaining 10 to 15 per cent are foreign, dual and multi-national citizens of the EU and abroad (Govern de les Illes Balears - IBAE 1996). In decreasing order, foreigners are Germans, British, Latin Americans, Moroccans, French, Italians, Dutch, in addition to a myriad of other nationalities. This mosaic reflects the fluidity of foreigners living and moving across the island, in ways that render impossible to exactly quantify the expatriate population (Rozenberg 1990).

Language

While Catalan and Spanish are the official languages of Ibiza, a "dialectal variation [of Catalan]...called Eivissenc or Ibicenco is more readily spoken by both the residents and those of Formentera." Additionally, because of the influence of tourism (see below) and expatriates living in or maintaining residences on the island other, atypical languages, such as English, German and Russian are also spoken. Polylinguality is the norm, not the exception.

Tourism

Nightlife

275px|thumb|right|Bassa Beach.

Ibiza is considered a popular tourist destination, especially due to its legendary and at times riotous nightlife centered around two areas: Ibiza Town, the island's capital on the southern shore and Sant Antoni to the West. Well-known nightclubs are Privilege (the largest club in the world), Eden (the busiest nightclub in Sant Antoni), Es Paradís (noted for its water parties), Amnesia (known for foam parties), Space (an afterparty club), Pacha, and DC10. During the summer, well-known DJs perform at the various clubs on weekly schedules, in between touring to other international destinations. Many of these DJs use Ibiza as an outlet for presenting new songs within the house, trance and techno genres of electronic dance music.

The season traditionally begins at the start of June with Space and DC10's opening parties and finishes on the first weekend of October with the Closing Parties. A typical schedule for clubbers going to Ibiza includes waking at noon, early evening naps, late night clubbing, and "disco sunrises". Due to Ibiza's notable tolerance toward misbehavior from young adult tourists, it has acquired the sobriquet "Gomorrah of the Med". Also well-known is Café del Mar, a long-standing bar where many tourists traditionally view the sunset made famous by José Padilla. That and other bars close by have become an increasingly popular venue for club pre-parties after sunset, hosting popular DJ performers.

The island's government is trying to encourage a more cultured and quieter tourism scene, passing rules including the closing of all nightclubs by 6 a.m. at the latest, and requiring all new hotels to be 5-star.. However, many clubs tend to stay open until 7 or 8 a.m., as 6 a.m. is viewed as an unrealistic time for one to stop partying. The administration is wanting to attract a more international mixture of tourists.http://bbs.clubplanet.com/chicago/27508-ibiza-changing.html.

World Heritage Site

Though primarily known for its party scene, large portions of the island are registered as U.N. World Heritage Sites, and thus protected from the development and commercialization of the main cities. A notable example includes "God's Finger" in the Benirràs Bay as well as some of the more traditional Ibicenco cultural sites. Because of its rustic beauty, companies and artists alike frequently use the island for photographic and film shoots. A monument ("The Egg") erected in honour of Christopher Columbus can be found in Sant Antoni: Ibiza is one of several places purporting to be his birthplace.

Notable tourist destinations

Transport

Ibiza is served by Ibiza Airport.

Administration

Ibiza is administratively part of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands, whose capital is Palma, on the island of Majorca. Ibiza comprises five of the community's 67 municipalities. Clockwise from the south coast, these are:

• Sant Josep de sa Talaia
• Sant Antoni de Portmany
• Sant Joan de Labritja
• Santa Eulària des Riu
• Eivissa Cuidad (lit. "Ibiza City", more commonly "Ibiza Town"; referred to as "Vila d'Eivissa" or "Vila" locally.)

These municipalities had a total population of 88,076 inhabitants (as of the 2001 census) and have a land area of .

In popular culture

190px|thumb|left|The Privilege, a nightclub as much in Ibiza. A number of novels have been written using Ibiza as the setting, including Joshua Then and Now by Mordecai Richler, Soma Blues by Robert Sheckley, Vacation in Ibiza by Lawrence Schimel, A Short Life on a Sunny Isle: An Alphonse Dantan Mystery by Hannah Blank, They Are Ruining Ibiza by A.C. Greene and The Python Project by Victor Canning.

There also exists a genre of dance music named after Ibiza dubbed Balearic Beat, similarly to the way Goa trance is named after Goa, India.Gilbert, Jeremy; Pearson, Ewan. Discographies: Dance Music, Culture, and the Politics of Sound. Routledge. 1999. ISBN 041517032X. "The musics which fed into acid house and the developing culture were various too; the heterogeneous sounds of the 'Balearic beat' which helped define it did not constitute a discrete musical genre, but an unholy mix of, among other things, hip hop, house, Mediterranean pop and indie rock. DJs' playlists temporarily situated highly disparate musics beside one another. Musical miscegenation reunited several of the dance forms that had emerged after disco, mixing American and European dance musics. Though house music was the dominant mode, the rapid proliferation of styles and sub-genres which followed in its wake, for a short time at least, kept dancefloors moving to a range of grooves." The style tries to reflect the atmosphere of Ibiza.Evans, Helen. Out of Sight, Out of Mind: An Analysis of Rave culture. Wimbledon School of Art, London. 1992. "It was in the upmarket clubs of Ibiza: Pacha, Amnesia, Glory's and Manhattans, that Balearic beat was created. DJ's would mix together musical forms as diverse as 'Public Enemy' and 'The Woodentops', to create that eclectic, highly danceable, don't care holiday feel." The atmosphere is brought on with the use of synthesized string instruments, the sound of waves, mandolins and guitars, and wispy vocals. A prominent resident of Ibiza is Jens Gad, former co-producer and guitarist featured on several albums of the multi-platinum act Enigma. Gad's home on the island features a state-of-the art recording studio where he has recorded his recent solo albums and two albums of his new musical project Achillea, in 2005 and 2007.Jens Gad bio

Notes

275px|thumb|right|Sunset at Café del Mar, Sant Antoni de Portmany.

External links

• U.D. Ibiza - Eivissa (local soccer team)
• Consell Insular d'Eivissa (local government)
• Official tourism portal of Ibiza - Consell Insular d'Eivissa
• Official City Council Site
• Ibiza photos
• Real time marine traffic at Ibiza port
• Diario de Ibiza (local newspaper)
• Ibiza and the Historic Town of Eivissa by The Guardian

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