As a reputed fun seeker, it came as no surprise to anyone who knew me that travelling to Ibiza was at the top of my bucket list. The louche nightlife and celebrity-studded sightings – Kate Moss is a regular, and Paris Hilton and Idris Elba have DJ’d at various hotspots – draw party-ready visitors from around the world. Imagine my surprise, then, when the sole night out I had at one of its famed super clubs was the most underwhelming aspect of my five-day visit.
Expecting a hedonistic extravaganza when I arrived at 2 a.m., I was instead confronted with a room full of revellers whose faces glowed in the cold blue light of their phone screens, as they scrolled instead of danced. Deciding this ultimately wasn’t our scene, my travel companion and I went home long before the sun came up.
Truthfully, our early exit was also because we didn’t want to fritter the next day away with high-octane hangovers. We wanted to see as much of this magnificent island, floating in the middle of the Mediterranean between Valencia and Algiers, as possible.
In the days leading up to our clubbing adventure, we’d come to discover a different side of Ibiza, where a slower lifestyle is flourishing and intersecting with dynamic creative and dining scenes. While hippies and hedonists were once attracted to the Spanish island’s seclusion, a new group of ex-pat entrepreneurs are emerging, eager to entice both visitors and locals looking for more than their proverbial kicks.
“People here have a can-do attitude,” says Rachel Weschke, a former Londoner who says she began plotting a move to Ibiza after visiting for only a handful of days a decade ago. “Ibiza is a really small island, but it’s astounding how many levels it has,” she says. “In some ways, it’s very much a bubble. And then in other ways, you feel really connected to the rest of the world in a way that, weirdly, I didn’t feel in London.”
At Vessel Studio, you can flex your creative muscles while looking out over the sea. Photo courtesy Vessel Studio
When Weschke relocated from the U.K. in 2015, she spent a few years travelling between her new and old homes. But after spending 20 years in various education roles at the Victoria and Albert Museum, she felt it was time to shift her focus to a more localized art-minded effort. In 2020, she founded Vessel Studio, a life drawing and pottery venture that nurtures the development of creative intuition. In addition to selling ceramic works that she makes and running an artist residency, Weschke says the purpose of the studio is to allow people to tap into their artistic abilities while making something without the notion of it being “good” or “bad.”
The studio is a calm and liberating space. “Vessel is situated on a rooftop with splendid sea views,” Weschke says. She runs workshops throughout the year – everything from ink making to macrame, bookbinding and puppet making – and the schedule of classes is often a collaborative endeavour that includes other local talents such as painter Elizabeth Rose Langford. “During the summer, there are evening classes for those who want a night off from partying,” Weschke says. The appeal of the daytime classes is that attendees can “spend a morning making, have lunch and hit the beach.”
Weschke says that Ibiza’s artistic scene has transformed since she transplanted her life south. That’s likely thanks, in part, to people like Jorge Fernandez, who runs the eclectic Galeria Tambien with his wife, multidisciplinary artist Natalie Rich.
Jorge Fernandez fills his Galeria Tambien with collectable furniture destined for Ibiza’s eclectically decorated private villas.
The duo founded the gallery in 2018 after moving to Ibiza from Paris. It operates as an exhibition space for the work of both local and international artists including emerging names such as Spanish painter Carle Naide. There’s also a showroom for notable design pieces from the Bauhaus era to the 1980s, including Giancarlo Piretti’s shapely Alky chairs and lamps by Georges Pelletier.
Fernandez says the duo was inspired to launch the project, which ships globally through the platform 1stDibs, after visiting the homes of island residents who had beautiful interiors full of objects they had acquired internationally. “We met people with very nice pieces,” he says. “And when we’d ask where they found something, they’d say they’d brought it from London, from Paris, from Geneva, et cetera. It made us think there was an opportunity to offer that kind of artistic product to people living on the island.” Fernandez and Rich chose to operate in Santa Gertrudis de Fruitera, a village in the centre of Ibiza, because its location is “like a connection point,” he says.
The vibe at Casa Lhasa similarly distills how much more Ibiza has to offer than its debauched reputation has long suggested. A charming wine bar and restaurant tucked away in the village of San Lorenzo, Casa Lhasa offers small plates and a selection of wines and spirits, some of which are produced in the Balearic Islands region of Spain, where Ibiza is situated.
Canadian sommelier and co-owner, Cassady Sniatowsky, says his family had been coming to Ibiza since the 1970s. Inspired to dive into the burgeoning natural wine industry after becoming disillusioned by a lack of ingredient transparency in the existing wine-making world (but realizing he didn’t want to be a winemaker himself), he launched Supernatural Wines, a distribution company that operates out of the same building as the bar and bottle shop. The project is a collaboration between Sniatowsky and Ben Shpunt, who had been managing the celebrated Bar Brutal in Barcelona.
“We didn’t know if anybody would even come,” Sniatowsky says of opening Casa Lhasa in 2020. “We’re in the countryside, not even in a busy area.”
Cassady Sniatowsky, Canadian sommelier and co-owner of Casa Lhasa, launched Supernatural Wines, a distribution company that operates out of the same building as the bar and bottle shop.
But the combination of an inventive menu initially developed by chef Gareth Story and the promise of bottles both unusual and delectable has brought in locals and tourists in droves. “We started without a strategy,” Shpunt says. “We only knew that we were only going to sell natural wines. And that created a buzz.”
Casa Lhasa’s regularly updated food offerings – ranging from modest dishes such as chard fritters to more adventurous options like leeks served with crispy pig ears – are influenced by contributions from local suppliers, an idea that’s becoming more commonplace on the island.
This is perhaps the most exciting shift to Ibiza’s ethos. While the jet-set still congregates, the energy they’re bringing is less supersonic. Those invested in fostering local talent and community can amplify the unique and ineffable qualities that have kept us party animals interested in Ibiza coming back for more. I’m already mapping out what else I’ll do when I return to the White Island. The sentiment of perpetual exploration rings true for residents, too. As Weschke says, “It’s still a voyage of discovery to live here.”
ON LOCATION
Can Sastre
Offering maximum privacy thanks to its limited accommodations of three casitas and two larger suites, the agritourism-focused Can Sastre also provides activities for guests including yoga sessions. Casita suites from $800/night through cansastre.com.
Maine
The third location of this restaurant group opened by Canadian Joey Ghazal serves up lobster pasta in a spicy bisque and other seafood dishes alongside Wagyu and Black Angus steaks. maineibiza.com.
Mercadillo de Sant Jordi
Every Saturday in the old hippodrome in the south-west region’s Sant Josep de sa Talaia, you’ll find the most popular flea market in Ibiza. mercadillodesantjordi.com.
Santa Gertrudis de Fruitera
Museo de Arts Contemporaneo
In addition to its eclectic exhibition schedule, this circa-16th-century exhibition space with a modern addition boasts a visible archeological site. eivissa.es.
Nudo
This buzzy beachside boite, opened by three ex-Noma chefs, marries a sea view with a tight selection of inventive yet unfussy dishes and natural wines. nudoibiza.com.
Parra & Romero
Parra & Romero gallery in Santa Gertrudis de Fruitera.
A classic white cube gallery space open year-round, Parra & Romero’s Santa Gertrudis location is a petite partner to the gallery’s warehouse location, which is only open from June through September. parra-romero.com.
Petunia
A spacious and serene boutique hotel, Petunia overlooks one of Ibiza’s most notable natural attractions, the diminutive island of Es Vedra, said to be where a host of mermaids tried to tempt Ulysses in Homer’s Odyssey. Deluxe rooms from $780/night through petuniaibiza.com.
Pikes
The recently refurbished Pikes is one of the island’s most notorious establishments. Play a round of tennis on its pink court before gathering in the lively restaurant Pamela’s for its renowned take on a Sunday Roast. Junior suites from $933/night through pikesibiza.com.
Soul Good
Known as a favourite among locals, this bar found on Santa Eulària des Riu beach Niu Blau slings vegetarian-friendly fare and cocktails perfect for sipping at sundown.
W Hotel
Located on the east side of the island, W’s Ibiza outpost is surrounded by boho boutiques and boasts a decidedly laidback swimming pool scene mere steps from the Santa Eulalia beach. Wonderful rooms from $632/night through marriott.com.
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