Ibiza experiences the eclipse in added time
Thousands of spectators also were able to attend the electronic battle between the house music of Café Mambo and the chill out of Café del Mar, with clouds that threatened the astronomical phenomenon until the last moment
IbizaLike the Spanish national team, at the last minute. The thousands of people who chose the Ses Variades area in Sant Antoni de Portmany this Wednesday to watch the eclipse, feared for twenty long minutes that the clouds would spoil the experience. Even some of the frustrated attendees began to whistle, following the logic of those who would also applaud a sunset, as if the sun could do anything about it. But just in the nick of time, the mixture of haze and clouds cleared, and at least the climax of the astronomical phenomenon could be contemplated: the 'diamond ring' effect just before the complete occultation; the halo of light when the Moon completely covers the Sun... A magical moment, even disturbing, if it weren't accompanied by the inevitable Ibizan soundtrack. And at full volume. The disco house that a DJ was playing at Café Mambo could be clearly heard from a good 400 meters away.
But this is actually the end of the chronicle. Let's start from the beginning. Public transport worked in Ibiza. That's news. It worked at least for going back and forth between Vila and Sant Antoni by bus, which is what I did. The Consell d'Eivissa passed the test of facilitating thousands of people to travel to Ponent and the North of the island. It's a remarkable fact, because Ibiza already seems to be on the verge of collapse at times without any eclipse happening. The increase in frequencies and direct buses between Vila and some points, like Sant Antoni, helped. And the foresight and civic attitude of thousands of people also contributed.
So, in the mid-afternoon, there were already quite a few of us wandering around the Ses Variades promenade, armed with a bottle of water, in unbearable heat; as if the Sun were saying: I'll eclipse myself later, but for now... The only one who could withstand the solar radiation without melting was a vendor set up on the rocks of Ses Variades, right between Café del Mar and Café Mambo, offering official glasses for 10 euros from a very well-placed stall; if you opted to buy them from one of the vendors circulating on the promenade, they only asked for 5. I found them to be very reasonable prices if you were desperate. At least, for one day, Sant Antoni replaced the traffic of laughter gas - a real public health problem in the Portmany capital - with the official glasses market.official glasses.
Since I was bored -because, of course, it's the eclipse of the century etcetera etcetera and blah blah and there are still two and a half hours left-, I decided to write to an astrologer friend.
- From an astrological point of view, is an eclipse good or bad?
- An eclipse is a purge-, she answers without hesitation.
- Wow. I also read that, in the coming days, it is possible that several political leaders will fall, especially rulers who do not exercise leadership in a genuine way.
- Well, in the coming days...; maybe it won't be that fast, but the eclipse occurs in the sign of Leo; Leo is the sign of monarchy and leadership... And she leaves it there, as if saying: deduce it yourself...If you don't have a reservation, you have nothing to lose
Meanwhile, people have been arriving. Tens, hundreds, thousands when it's past 7... What looked like a deserted rocky area -Ses Variades is a kilometer-long strip of flat rocks between the bay of Portmany and Caló des Moro, with the islet of Sa Conillera right in front- has turned into a continuous stream of people trying to find the best spot; entire families with children, towels, parasols, containers with food and beers; workers who were able to leave early -some shops have moved their closing time forward to 7 PM-; groups of teenagers, groups of tourists trying to find their place... The tables at Café del Mar and Café Mambo have also filled up. These are the large cafes -or beach clubs, because it's not very clear- that occupy the best stretch of Ses Variades; dozens and dozens of tables with the best views. Here, if you don't have a reservation, you're out of luck. There's Ibiza with a reservation and Ibiza without one. A table at Café del Mar costs between 100 and 200 euros per person. Eclipse price. The same sources assure us that, for a table at Café Mambo, up to 750 euros have been paid.
And it is that at Café Mambo there is also set up the preparty of the Medvza party, which will later move to the Hï club in Platja d’en Bossa. In the middle of the cafe's terrace, a spectacular DJ booth is set up - with a DJ included -, lights, and a very powerful sound system; in fact, the house - I think it's house, or drum and bass possibly - it devours everything around it for hundreds of meters, far beyond the establishment's own boundaries. A barrier of security guards prevents anyone from approaching the area, or taking photos: it is an armored VIP terrace. In the same cafe there are those who have a direct view of the eclipse, without anyone being able to block them - this explains the prices - and those who are in the second row, behind the promenade; another barrier of guards separates them from the people walking on the promenade. Because, of course, it is a promenade, and it is public - I mean, we all paid for it - and they can't keep it all to themselves either; otherwise people might complain. The music from Mambo is so loud that it even swallows the shy chill out that the neighbors of Café del Mar sting, a little more rhythmically anemic in the battle to see who fills the sound space more. So from the cocktail bar of Café del Mar, with your right ear you listen house and with the left chill out. Afterwards, your brain organizes it as best it can.
In Ses Variades the party has not ended, but the eclipse in extremis yes. I'm going along the new Vara de Rey boulevard in Sant Antoni, recently inaugurated as the 'path to the sunset'; it connects West End with Ses Variades and, lo and behold, it opens right between Café del Mar and Café Mambo. As if the Sun already knew where it had to set. I'm leaving, thinking about the astrological flip side of the eclipse. What if it were true? What if it were true that the eclipse would clear out satraps, dictators, and sons of bitches? If the sons of bitches wanted, we would never see the sun, sang Quico Pi de la Serra. And if it turns out that today's event wasn't an eclipse? And if it was just a few thousand sons of bitches who decided to fly the coop? I glance at a news channel on my phone: it still says nothing about Donald Trump's probable resignation.
