Banning workers from San Antonio could be disastrous for Ibiza

Every season young people travel to Ibiza seeking entry-level jobs in the dance music industry. But this summer they'll find opportunities in short supply after lawmakers decided to ban PRs – who are paid to give out flyers and sell tickets to clubs and boat parties – from the streets of San Antonio.

This is important because the continual turnover of young, aspirational people who are devoted to dance music and gagging to get involved in Ibiza's nighttime industry is what keeps the island's scene vibrant and relevant. The ban, as well as a new tourism tax that comes into effect in July, could be disastrous if it forces them to take their energy elsewhere.

“It's the PRs and young workers that drive the club nights,” explains Space resident Doorly, who also fronts a second party at Pikes. “There's a reason why we give out workers passes to these kids - they promote our events for free, simply because they're excited to be coming themselves. From a promotional perspective we will be relying on tourists alone. I'm yet to see how it's going to work.”

Another DJ/promoter shocked by news of the ban is tINI: “My best friend who brought me to the island 13-years ago was selling tickets. She came to the island every summer to work the parades and without her I wouldn’t have come. It’s very sad because these street jobs are super important. They bring a lot of young and motivated people to the island. We’ll miss a lot of these workers at our tINI & the Gang parties. It’s another big change for the island.”

Stereotypically, workers sleep 10 to an apartment and live off ham and cheese baguettes for the whole summer. Just getting through the season has always been considered an achievement in itself. A rite of passage and a personal gateway into the music industry – just ask veterans like Jamie Jones. But with no PR jobs to pay the rent this summer, what affect will a vastly depleted workers community have on a scene that has a history of renewing itself from within? After all, Ibiza isn’t the only European summer party destination with a buzzing dance scene anymore.

“Places like Croatia, Bulgaria and Malta are only going to get stronger,” Doorly says. “And most importantly they’re going to have a government behind them. It’s sad to watch. Everyone in the scene works so hard and all the government here want to do is take it apart bit by bit, while making mega money from it.”

Hideout boss Mark Newton is one of the reasons why Croatia is now a viable party alternative to Ibiza. “The Ibiza authorities have been clamping down on the electronic music scene since I was a worker,” the former head of PR for Ibiza Rocks and Manumission explains. “They put a roof on the Sunset Terrace at Space, made restrictions to the opening and closing times. It’s been going on for the last ten years, minimum. In Croatia, the government don’t go out and actively embrace what’s going on, but there’s more of a two-way conversation.”

So what’s the score here, the bigger picture? Well, essentially Ibiza has its eye on the big cash. The VIP cash. The golf course cash. The casino-sized cash. You know, the serious money.

“The funny thing is, the island is attracting that richer custom,” Newton says. “However, 90 per cent of that clientele want to go to the high-end beach clubs, the high-end nightclubs. They’re not choosing Ibiza because it’s a nice European resort; they’re going because of the electronic music scene. And yet, the workers are the driving force behind what becomes cool in Ibiza two or three years later. The artists and genres that break through are broken by the kids who scrimp and save to get into clubs where they can’t even afford to buy a drink. These kids will go and see an artist in a small venue like Underground or Sankeys and in three years time that DJ will have a headline night in one of the bigger clubs. It’s all driven from the grass roots and if you take it away there will be nothing left for the top to feed off.”

Ibiza 2016 is gearing up to be the biggest on record, but without the nourishing support of an entire community of young dance music PRs who continually reinvigorate the scene, the worry is that future summers will end up sounding artificial and contrived.

“A good PR educates the holidaymakers,” Newton says. “Informing them about parties they wouldn’t necessarily know about themselves. You’re taking away that education system. Now you’re going to have people going on holiday and they’ll end up seeing the artist who can afford the biggest billboard. I remember when I was working on the island in 2009, everyone was going to Monza to see Luciano, Villalobos and Marco Carola. No one coming from the UK would’ve known anything about Monza unless it was for the workers educating people.”

And look at Carola now: within the space of five years he’s gone from playing room two at Monza to having the biggest underground residency on the island, leaving a mass of boring, formulaic parties in his wake. In recent seasons, Paradise, VIVa Warriors, FUSE and Darius Syrossian’s Do Not Sleep have also been greatly empowered by Ibiza’s omniscient workers community.

But in spite of all the recent clampdowns, young English promoters like Stephen Guy, whose hip hop party Applebum will debut at Sankeys this summer, are still being drawn to the island. “If you’re a successful promoter in Ibiza, the credibility is much greater than promoting in the UK,” Guy says. “In Ibiza, you’re not just promoting to a UK crowd, you’re promoting to the whole of Europe. That’s what we’re going to be doing, especially over in Playa d’en Bossa.” Even so, Guy is still concerned about the long-term affect the PR ban and the tourist tax will have on his dancefloor. “It’s worrying for Ibiza. If the government isn't careful, it's going to put off an entire generation.”

“Ibiza’s not all about rich people coming in on their yachts,” Doorly concludes. “It’s about the youth. Because here’s the thing: they’re probably involved in the scene more than we are. They’re telling us what we should be playing, what’s happening on the ground. As promoters, we need their opinions. A promoter who doesn’t listen to his PRs is a fool. These kids are the ones dancing around at the front of the room and then talking about it afterwards. They’re the ones who convince their friends to watch a DJ they’re super excited about. It’s a huge part of the culture that’s being disbanded here and I hope people realise that.”

Dave Pimbleton is one of Mixmag's Ibiza correspondents and has been dining out on cheese baguettes for longer than he can remember