For the first time in history,
a large part of Ibiza will be covered by a sheet of ice. This is not a freak
meteorological condition but part of Ibiza Town’s Christmas activities.
Inside a 1,800 square metre
temperature regulated marquee there will be 1,200 square metre ice-skating rink.
This temporary rink will be
situated in the car park in calle Murcia and will be opened to the public from
15th December to 15th January.
For the first time, this will
enable Ibiza residents to enjoy the thrills and spills of ice-skating.
The rink will be opened every
day from 10:30am to 13:30pm and in the evening from 16:30pm to 22:00pm and for
1,000 pesetas (6 Euros) an hour you will be able to hire skates and have a go
on the ice.
The Town Hall of Ibiza is
spending 22 million pesetas on the temporary ice-skating rink, which will include
a café and a first aid post.
Gesa (Ibiza’s Electricity
Company) will supply the electricity to the marquee free of charge and Pacha
discotheque will supply and equip the marquee with a state of the art sound
and lighting system.
The Lord Mayor of Ibiza Town,
Xico Tarrés, expressed how content he was with this new project and hoped that,
if successful, it could be repeated every year.
Any money made this year will
be used to benefit sporting facilities on the island.
This is one of many projects
Ibiza has planned for the holiday season.
This years festivities will
commence on Thursday 6th December with the switching-on of the Christmas
lights, the opening of the Christmas craft fair in Vara de Rey (Ibiza’s Town
Square) and, on a special stage erected close to the craft market, the Red Cross
will sponsor a musical concert.
On 17th, 18th,
19th, 20th and 21st at 17:30, Christmas carols
will be sang by the children’s choir of Ibiza in Can Ventosa Cultural Centre.
On 22nd December
at 12:00, the inauguration ceremony of the huge nativity scene will take place
in Vara de Rey.
At 10:30 in the morning on
28th December, a treasure hunt will commence from Dalt Vila (Ibiza
Old Town). This is a fun day out for all the family with the winners receiving
prizes in the evening.
New Year’s Eve celebrations
will take place in the Recinto Ferial (Ibiza’s Fair and Exhibition Centre),
where activities for all ages will take place.
There will be free entrance
to the Recinto Ferial and two orchestras, one from Ibiza and the other from
Valencia, will entertain revellers through the night until it’s time for the
traditional breakfast of “chocolate y churros” (drinking chocolate accompanied
by a sweet finger pastry). This year the breakfast will be brought forward from
8 o’clock in the morning to 5 o’clock in the afternoon so that younger members
of the family won’t have to stay up so late.
Then the big one that children
of the island all look forward to is the procession of the “Reyes Magos” (Three
Kings) from the port of Ibiza on the night of 5th January.
This is traditionally the
night when children all over Spain receive presents from the Three Wise Men.
Last year, the procession,
which makes its way from the port of Ibiza through the town, consisted of 350
people and several floats.
Sandra Mayans, Public Festivities
councillor, said: “This year there will be up to 450 people participating and
we are spending more money on floats and decorations”.
In all, Ibiza Town Hall will
spend a total of 24 million pesetas on this year’s festivities.
VARA DE REY CLOSED TO TRAFFIC
As most of the Christmas activities
are concentrated in Vara de Rey, Ibiza Council inaugurated a new project last
weekend designed to turn the town square into a safer place.
Vara de Rey remained closed
to all traffic from 14:00pm on Saturday until midnight on Sunday.
According to Xico Tarrés,
Ibiza Town’s Lord Mayor, the aim of the new project is to create a proper meeting
place for Ibiza residents without the disturbance of cars or motorbikes.
The architects who designed
Vara de Rey in the 1970s wanted to pave the whole area, blocking entrance to
all traffic.
With this new project, Ibiza’s
Council will have the chance to decide whether blocking the Town Square off
to traffic on a permanent basis would benefit the residents.
So far Ibiza’s Council feels
that it’s beneficial that the residents for walking, cycling, skating, etc are
using the centre of the town.
For the time being, Vara de
Rey will remain closed to traffic every weekend until the Council makes a permanent
decision.
TREES DESTROYED IN SES SALINES
The Public Minister has denounced
the destruction of pine and sabina trees in the area of Can Carabassó, which
is in the Nature Reserve of ses Salines and is classified as a highly protected
area.
A 50 year-old man is now facing
up to two years in jail as a result of his actions. He employed a company in
February this year to clear an area of 6,000 to 7,000 square metres in order
to build a car park beside the restaurant “Mar y Sal”.
In total 66 pine trees and
61 sabina trees destroyed but as the Public Minister says: “This is not only
about the loss of the trees; it will have a negative effect on the whole environment”.
It’s good to see that the
Public Minister is taking action against people who indiscriminately destroy
the natural beauty of the island.
The man will appear in court
in the near future.
ECONOMICAL HELP AFTER WEATHER DESTRUCTION
With so much damage caused
in the recent storms, the Home Councillor, Josep María Costa, held a meeting
on Monday 3rd December with representatives from most of Ibiza’s
Town Halls to discuss how much money is needed to repair the damage caused by
the period of extreme weather in November.
The Home Councillor met with
the Lord Mayors of San Antonio and San Juan and a representative from the Ibiza
Town Hall. The Lord Mayors of San José and Santa Eulalia failed to attend the
meeting.
Each person who suffered serious
loses as a result of the storms has to present an application form to the Consell
Insular (Island Council) before 20th December so that the Town Halls
can assess their claims.
The Town Halls agreed on how
difficult it is checking every single case and the great amount of time this
will consume.
The delegates at the meeting
agreed with the Consell Insular that a provisional sum of 7,900 million pesetas
is set-aside for immediate use.
The Home Councillor will ask
the Government to approve this figure by next week so that people can start
getting back to normal.
“We hope that now the Government
will realise that the Balearic Isles need an emergency plan in place to deal
with future extreme weather conditions”, said the Home Councillor, who will
be meeting with representatives from Cataluña, Valencia, Balearics and Canary
Isles on 12th December to discuss future measures against extreme
weather conditions.
NEW IDEAS FOR OLD BULL FIGHTING RING
The Town Hall of Ibiza is
preparing a second project for the space where the old bull-fighting ring used
to stand, after the first project to turn it into shops failed.
The Sports Councillor, Roque
López, explained: “The Town Hall doesn’t want the old bull ring to be turned
into a building specializing in one thing. Our idea is to create an open space
where different activities can take place”.
The area will be partly dedicated
to sporting activities for children.
Roque López says that “whatever
is done to the old bullring will be better than it is now”.
Lets hope that they can come
to a decision soon and commence work as this area has long been a black spot
in Ibiza Town.
RIAS BAIXAS
When our most experienced
colleague paid us a visit on the island last month and we all met for the first
time, we went to his favourite restaurant Rías Baixas in San Antonio and what
a good choice it was.
Since our visit, Rías Baixas
has been selected as one of the 25 best restaurants in Spain and awarded a gold
plate by the Radio Turismo (Radio of Tourism).
I would like to congratulate
Rías Baixas on receiving this award and also congratulate Sinclair on his ability
to pick out a top-class restaurant. Well done to both of you! |