Ibiza Essentials

Ibiza Essentials

The Spanish island of Ibiza has long been a haven for seekers of all sorts. As far back as the ’30s, Spaniards threatened by Francisco Franco's regime had been going there in search of political and sexual freedom. In the ’60s, hippies flocked to the White Isle to tap its supposed mystical powers (the island's sunsets are truly epic and elicit both tears and cheers at any outdoor gathering). And in the late ’80s, when British DJs such as Danny Rampling and Paul Oakenfold brought acid house back from clubs like Amnesia and Pacha, they kicked off a long-standing tradition of European partiers heading to the Med for a hedonistic holiday. While the Balearic sound—more a vibe than an actual genre, loosely threading together folk, New Age, soul, disco, psychedelia and dance music of all types—has become the island’s unofficial soundtrack, today, Ibiza's dance floors tend to favour the steady thump of deep house and melodic techno. But if you stay up late enough, you’ll still catch vestiges of that anything-goes Second Summer of Love—when 808 State mixed into Sade and Enya and no one batted an eye.

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