On June 10, more than 1,000 people gathered to dance and drink at an event planned to last two days on an estate located on the Camí Vell de Sant Mateu in the municipality of Sant Antoni de Portmany, Ibiza, in Spain’s Balearic Islands. It was not an impromptu get-together with a bar and a DJ, but an event very much like the music festivals that pop up across Spain in summer: restaurant areas for dining, several bars, toilets, an ambulance with medical staff and even a carousel. All of this was accompanied by music from internationally known DJs. The only thing missing was a single permit.
Sant Antoni local police and Spain’s Civil Guard arrived at the site after numerous calls from residents reporting high noise levels and problems caused by the large number of vehicles parked in the rural area. During the inspection, officers found that the organizers had private security, a shuttle-bus service, generators and guests wearing wristbands, as if the event were a legitimate business operation. The party was shut down and ended well ahead of schedule.
This is neither the first nor the last of the illegal parties that will take place on Ibiza this summer. In recent years the situation has worsened, with increasingly sophisticated events promoted through social media and private messaging channels.
“If you call the police and the music isn’t very loud or it’s in the afternoon, sometimes they don’t come,” laments Vicent Riera, president of the Sant Rafel Neighbours’ Association. “We’re stuck in a kind of limbo because by the time a resident files a complaint, the problem is usually recurring. We often err on the side of caution.”
One of his main complaints about what he sees as the inaction of Sant Antoni’s local authorities is that the town hall waits for residents to file formal complaints or act as inspectors themselves, “when it should be acting on its own initiative.”
According to Riera, Ibiza’s institutions have spent years being overly relaxed in tackling the island’s excesses, which now extend beyond illegal parties and noise to include traffic congestion, unlicensed taxis, waste management and water shortages.
Residents of Santa Gertrudis, a rural village in the municipality of Santa Eulària des Riu, have also had enough. This week they submitted more than 300 signatures to the town hall in protest against the clandestine parties that are testing locals’ patience.
“The town hall has to restore order and fight these illegal parties in the countryside. We used to enjoy a peaceful life here, and now some people can’t even sleep,” says Joan Tur Rosselló, president of the Santa Gertrudis Neighbours’ Association, a retired doctor who has spent more than 20 years defending residents’ rights in the area.
Tur believes the boom in these events reflects the development model that has taken hold on Ibiza in recent years.
“Locals feel like we’re living on a reservation. The entire coastline has already been colonized, and now the rural interior is being taken over as well,” he says.
The nuisance is amplified by the powerful sound systems used at these parties, which can be heard for miles around. And in summer, the heat means many people sleep with their windows open.
Santa Eulària’s town hall has backed the residents’ complaints, but members of the local government say they face a “legal wall” because organizers invoke the constitutional right to the inviolability of the home to prevent local police from entering private properties.
“Commercial businesses and illegal activities that charge admission are being disguised as private gatherings among friends or birthday parties,” municipal officials say.
Mayor Carmen Ferrer has asked Spain’s central government representative in the Balearic Islands to convene a Local Security Board, arguing that forcibly entering private property requires either public-security powers or a court order. For that reason, she is seeking an extraordinary deployment of resources and “clear instructions” for the Civil Guard, which is responsible for public security in rural areas.
“Control of an activity on this scale cannot be left solely to the local police. All levels of government must be involved in addressing something that affects all of us,” she says.
However, the problem appears far from solved. Sources at the central government’s delegation insist that responsibility for monitoring, authorizing and prosecuting illegal activities lies with the town hall. They note that the Civil Guard already assists local police whenever requested within its areas of competence. They also point out that, to date, Santa Eulària has not requested support from the force for any operation, nor has it submitted a petition to convene the Local Security Board.
“Once again, the Santa Eulària town hall, when faced with a problem it cannot resolve, shifts responsibility to the Spanish government,” say officials from the delegation.
For now, Sant Antoni’s town hall has initiated sanction proceedings against the organizers of the illegal party. They face a fine of up to €300,000 ($341,700) for violating the region’s activities law.
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