The Department of Dance promised follow up. We’re giving you follow up. Much has happened since last weekend with more clubs being raided. This week the Tax Agency docked three vessels at the port of Ibiza with about a hundred officials on board and proceeded to raid Space and Privilege. Officials searched the clubs and seized accounting documents over several hours. Also involved were agents from the National Police.
Last week Club Amnesia was raided and owner David Ferrer was arrested along with his son and two employees. More than 2 million euros were found stashed within the confines of the club. Residential property, commercial buildings, and land aligned with Martin Ferrer have been ordered to be blocked from sale or transfer of property by the court number 1 of Ibiza.
Why are these clubs being raided?
The raiding of night clubs like Amnesia, Space, and Privilege is part of a larger operation that is exposing tax fraud called Operation Chopin. Operation Chopin involves 110 companies, of which 87 are clubs, bars, and the offices of those establishments.
Where and What is Ibiza?
If you have ever wondered what the Mediterranean Sea could possibly have to offer, one answer to that question is Ibiza. Ibiza is an island in the Mediterranean Sea that is off the east coast of Spain. Phoenician settlers created a port in 654 BC and since then it has changed hands, staying under the control of the Roman Empire until its demise. The next group of people to inhabit and maintain control over the island for a considerable period of time were the Arabs who called the island Yebisah. The Arabs would remain on the island for another 500 years until the Catalans invaded in 1235.
How did Ibiza become a clubbing mecca?
Ibiza has long served as a leisure destination for Europeans and Americans alike. Hippies migrated there in the ’60s, seeking relief from tension in the United States surrounding instances of social upheaval and debate over the Vietnam War. It became the ultimate bohemian paradise. By the ’80s the island was transformed by personal freedoms on display, hedonism, and good times to the throbbing beats of electronic dance music. In the 1980s, Club Amnesia figured prominently in the nightclub scene along with Pacha and Ku, the largest outdoor discotheque in the world at the time. Ku would eventually become Privilege, regarded as the world’s largest nightclub. British DJs like Paul Oakenfold would go to the island in the late 1980s and become heavily influenced by the free-wheeling climate and Balearic beats. Just check out this footage from the island party paradise uploaded by Test Pressing.
If you went to Ibiza, you went to live your best life. Bart De Proft uploaded the below video of clubbing in Ku in Ibiza.
Fast forward to 2015 when Mauro Picotto played at Privilege Ibiza in and you will see why this island is so favored.
We leave you with the set below from Mark Knight at Space Ibiza in 2010. Hopefully things are sorted out and the music continues to play far into the future. For photos of days gone by, go here and time travel to the glorious ’80s.
I was listening to electronic dance music without even knowing it when I was listening to Jock Jams in the 90s. Fast forward to my senior year in high school and I had discovered Fatboy Slim. I have been listening to edm ever since and love writing about new sounds, good sounds, and the music that makes us move.
