San Antonio is the second largest town in Ibiza, and is considered by British clubbers to be the clubbing capital of the world, and last year local authorities have felt that clubbing and party tourism has started to affect the island’s locals, after they revealed that noise levels in the area had peaked at 20 dB above the lawful limit. The councilis has been working on a plan to limit noise pollution in the tourist spot.
After months of speculation the council came up with a solution. The area has officially been declared a Special Acoustic Protection Zone (Zona de Protección Acústica Especial – ZPAE), and a law has passed that forces clubs and bars in the West End to shut at the earlier time of 3 AM.
The Councilor for the Environment, Pablo Valdés, released the news yesterday, and he has been highly criticised by local business owners, defining these changes as a “death sentence for many families.”
Martin Makepeace, the president of the association of West End business owners, stated: “This will mean the death and ruin of the West End, and it’ll extend the party and the drinking throughout the rest of the town during the early hours, the young Brits will now be able to eat and drink until much later in their own towns than in San Antonio, so why would they leave the UK?”
But for Valdés this law means a first step towards a new San Antonio, where is possible to own any type of business in a more respectful way.
