Ibiza lives the eclipse in stoppage time

IbizaLike the Spanish national team, at the last minute. The thousands of people who chose the 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 someone who would also applaud a sunset, as if the Sun could do anything about it. But just at the last second, the mixture of haze and clouds dissipated 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 for the inevitable Ibizan soundtrack that accompanied it. 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 at the beginning. Public transport worked in Ibiza. That's news. It worked at least to go back and forth between Vila and Sant Antoni by bus, which is what I did. The Consell d'Eivissa overcame the challenge of enabling thousands of people to travel to Ponent and the north of the island. It's a remarkable fact, because Ibiza already seems to collapse at times without any eclipse happening. The increase in frequencies and direct buses between Vila and some points, such as 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 Variades promenade, armed with our water bottles, in an innumerable heat; as if the Sun were saying: "I'll eclipse myself later, but for now...". The only one resisting the solar radiation without melting was a vendor set up on the rocks of Les 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 exchanged the traffic of laughing gas – a real public health problem in the Portmany capital – for the 'official' glasses market.

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 decide to write to an astrologer friend.

—From an astrological point of view, is an eclipse good or bad?

—An eclipse is a purge—, she replies without hesitation.

—Wow. I also read that, in the coming days, it is possible that several political leaders may fall, especially rulers who do not exercise leadership 'genuinely'.

—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 to say: "Figure it out for yourself...".

If you don't have a reservation, you have nothing to bet on

Meanwhile, people have been arriving. Tens, hundreds, thousands when it's already past 7 p.m.... What looked like a desert rocky area – Les Variades is a kilometer-long stretch of flat rocks between the bay of Portmany and Caló del Moro, with the islet of Sa Conillera right in front – has transformed into a continuous stream of people trying to find the best spot; entire families with children, towels, umbrellas, lunchboxes with food and beers; workers who were able to leave early – some shops anticipated closing at 7 p.m. –; groups of teenagers, groups of tourists trying to find their place... The tables at Café del Mar and Café Mambo have also filled up. They are the big cafés – or beach clubs, because it's not very clear – that occupy the best stretch of Les Variades; tens and tens of tables with the best views. Here, if you don't have a reservation, you have no chance. 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, they have paid up to 750 euros.

At Café Mambo there is also the preparty for the Medvza party, which will later move to the Hï nightclub in Platja d’en Bossa. In the middle of the café's terrace stands a spectacular DJ table – with a DJ included – lights, and a very loud sound system; in fact, the house – I think it's house, or maybe drum and bass – devours everything around it for hundreds of meters, far beyond the establishment's own limits. A barrier of security guards doesn't let anyone approach the area, nor take photos: it's a shielded VIP terrace. In the same café, there are those with a direct view of the eclipse, without anyone being able to block it – which explains the prices – and those in the second row, behind the promenade; another barrier of guards separates them from the people walking on the promenade. Because, of course, it's a promenade, and it's public – I mean, we've all paid for it – and they can't keep it all to themselves either; perhaps people would complain. Mambo's music is so loud that it even swallows the timid chill out that the neighbors of Café del Mar play, a bit more rhythmically anemic in the battle to see who fills the sound space the most. So from the cocktail bar of Café del Mar, with your right ear you listen to house and with your left ear, chill out. Then, your brain organizes it as best it can.

At Variades the party is not over, but the eclipse in extremis is. I leave through the new Vara de Rei boulevard in Sant Antoni, recently inaugurated as the 'path to the sunset'; it connects the West End with Variades and, look at that, it opens right between Café del Mar and Café Mambo. The Sun already knew where it had to set. I leave thinking about the astrological reversal of the eclipse. What if it were true? What if it were true that the eclipse would cleanse us of satraps, dictators, and sons of bitches? "If sons of bitches could fly, we would never see the sun," sang Quico Pi de la Serra. What if it turns out that this today was not an eclipse? What if it was just a few thousand sons of bitches who decided to take flight? I take a look at a mobile news channel: it still says nothing about Donald Trump's probable resignation.

The eclipse in images in the Balearic Islands