Ibiza warns Radio 1 over beach rave
By thisislondon – 21 August 2000

Copyright: thisislondon

The Radio 1 Road Show could be banned from beaches in Ibiza next year after the station organised what was claimed to be “an illegal rave” near San Antonio.

Police had to be called in to break up the party of up to 2,000 drunken revellers at the request of the local council, which says that it will refuse permission for any further BBC broadcasts unless the station guarantees to “comply with regulations”.

The party, on s’Estanyol beach, near a calm village at the southern end of San Antonio bay, was organised by the bar Pacha Playa and the BBC, whose Ibiza broadcasts this summer have been headed by breakfast DJ Sara Cox.

Complaints from nearby hotels and residents began to bombard the police and council when the music began blaring at 7am. Local officers arrived at 9.30am to find that the noise levels were nearly double the legal limit.

The beach was soon filled with about 2,000 partygoers – many of whom had arrived straight from all-night raves at Ibiza’s clubs – dancing, drinking and collapsing in the sand.

Antonio Cardona, leader of San José council, said: “There was a problem with noise from the bar; then when the BBC came as well with a big party from Pacha, the problem became bigger.

“There were a lot of noisy people and with drink. It is not possible to do this without getting any kind of permission before. They have to ask 10 days before but they did not,” he claimed.

“The police went there and found that the music was too loud, so started to stop it – but by then the BBC had gone anyway.”

Concern surrounding the rave grew as it emerged that flyers for the party earlier this month were offering free “liquid cocaine”. The publicity said: “Join us for your free liquid cocaine on purchase of your first drink”. Investigations found that this was, in fact, the name of a highly potent cocktail of schnapps, vodka, rum, lemon and lime – on offer instead of breakfast.

Ibiza is a magnet for young Britons – holding out the promise of sun, sex and drugs. About 700,000 of them are expected to land on the island this summer, tempted by its reputation as a land of excess. San Antonio has long been linked with the worst excesses of the island, its reputation stemming from the days when lager-swilling British yobs caused mayhem in the many bars after a few drinks.

Over the past few years, however, the culture has changed. Alcohol is no longer enough to satisfy the yobs and recent research revealed that one in eight young people going to Ibiza this summer will take Ecstasy almost every night of their stay.

Concerned for future tourism in the area, Snr Cardona said: “We had people wanting to leave their hotels because of this, never mind those who just wanted to go to the beach.

“As far as I know, they [the BBC] don’t intend to hold any more parties in our area, but if they want to they will have to guarantee that they will comply with our regulations or they will not get permission. We are not taking any action this time but we will see in the future.”

A spokeswoman for the BBC said: “Everything went ahead as planned. We always ask permission for these things and we broadcast our show from there in the afternoon so I don’t know what all this is about.”

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