Family and housing
As in Spain in general, the family is a very important concept on the island. The children are the kings but the older ones, often very respected, instil certain values in them. On the whole, the family structure is still traditional and it is not uncommon to see several generations living together under the same roof. Young people, even when they are working, sometimes stay with their parents until they get married (and then they get married). In many family businesses, everyone has a place, whether in service companies or restaurants. Skills are passed down from generation to generation, as are first names: the eldest child is usually given the name of the father or mother, or the grandparents. And if it is not directly taken from the family tree, as in mainland Spain, religion still has a great influence on the choice of names. There are many Maria, Jesús or Jose, although the number of English-sounding names is increasing, and this is probably due to tourism.
In Ibiza, the typical accommodation is called a finca. It is generally made of very thick walls to avoid too much heat in summer and to protect against the cold in winter. The finca is traditionally organized around the main room, housing a fireplace that was once also used as an oven and was placed right next to the sink. The roof remains flat, which allows the construction of new rooms in case of births. Mostly located in the countryside, more and more owners have recently converted their traditional dwellings into agrotourism hotels, often full of charm.The place of women in Iberian society
Along with the great political and cultural revolution of the post-dictatorship period, the situation of women has changed considerably. Before the fall of Francoism, they were more or less assigned to the three C's: the kitchen, the chiquillos
(the kids) and the priest. Nowadays, most of them live relatively late with their parents, are much better educated than their mothers and therefore marry later (the average age of first marriage has risen from 24 to 30 in one generation). As childcare facilities and family support policies are still almost non-existent today, women are much less likely to be found in the highest professional positions. Their activity rate is nevertheless increasing by an average of one point per year, even though the wage gap between men and women remains very wide.However, Zapatero's Spanish government was an example of parity, with a total of 7 women among the 15 ministers, including Carme Chacón, who held the post of Minister of Defence from 2008 to 2011, and was appointed minister when she was seven months pregnant! A parity that is no longer present in the government put in place by Mariano Rajoy in November 2011: 4 women ministers out of 13 members, although it should be noted that it is a woman, Soraya Sáenz de Santa María, who holds the post of Vice-President. In the municipal elections of May 2015, two women, Ada Colau and Manuela Carmena, were elected to head Barcelona and Madrid respectively. That same year, the first woman was also elected president of the Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands in the person of Francina Armengol.
The average fertility rate is 1.37 children per woman and the average age for the first child is 31. In 2014, a bill threatening the right to abortion (except in two very specific cases...) had triggered strong opposition nationally, internationally and even within the PP. It was finally withdrawn that same year. In 2015, however, Mariano Rajoy passed a law banning abortion for minors without parental consent. It was passed by the Senate in 2015. On the LGTBQ side, the gay community is very present in Ibiza, a paradise of partying and extravagance, a far cry from the more closed mindset of Majorca and Menorca. Ibiza remains the real Eldorado for the gay community from all over Europe. Same-sex marriage has been legal in Spain since 2005.Traditions and festivals
The inhabitants of Ibiza, certainly thanks to their geographical isolation, have managed to preserve their traditions. The liturgical calendar has long been the unifying element in the social life of the Ibicencos. Very often the festivities celebrate a particular saint. It was during these events that the majority of the villagers gathered in the parishes. For the occasion, the young people dress up in their best clothes and the festivities continue in the streets or in the family sphere of private homes, with games, dances and popular songs. It is also an opportunity to get together with friends, neighbours and, of course, family. The festivities of the liturgical calendar have lasted to this day, and the people of Ibiza are still very attached to their age-old traditions, despite the arrival of tourism in the second half of the 20th century. It is during the popular festivals that the inhabitants revive these ancestral rites.
Festive specificities that are unique to Ibiza. The Festeig, celebrated in Ibiza, is a very elaborate way of wooing a lady that is quite outdated nowadays. Some of their dances, still in honour, are among the oldest in Spain. The inhabitants of Ibiza also preserve their instruments: the flute, the drum and the castagnoles - castanets of about 15 cm length - are played by the men. The men's costume, white shirt and trousers, sometimes black jacket, large red beret falling to the side (like a rooster's crest), is less diverse than that of the women. The women have maintained the tradition while innovating in the colour of the scarves. The festive clothes - especially the white ones - are magnificent, decorated in the front with a superb ornament attached to the shoulders (s'emprendada). Men and women wear the same espardenyes, the local version of espadrilles. Folklore lovers can enjoy these dances in Sant Josep, Sant Miquel, Santa Eulària, Sant Agustí and in most of the villages during the patron saint's day.
Traditional festivals in the Pityuses. The Ball Pagès is the traditional dance of the Pityuses, which differs from Mallorca and Menorca, where Spanish dances such as the fandango or bolero have developed. During the Ball Pagès, men and women are dressed in traditional clothes. The women wear long dresses, are adorned with jewellery and have their hair covered with a veil. The men are usually dressed in white and black, their waist tightly bound with a wide red belt, and a red cap hanging over their head. Men and women wear the same espardenyes, the local version of espadrilles. The dances are set to the rhythm of traditional instruments: castanets, the flute, the drum, and the xeremia. Cantades and caramelles complete the musical folklore of the Pityuse Islands. The cantades, narrative songs - with rhymes - elaborated according to the technique of the cantar redoblat, were also practised during festive days, between neighbours and family, most often in a private setting. The cantades, which sing of love and personal stories, are still performed by a few enthusiasts or during local festivities. The caramelles de Nadal are typical religious songs from Ibiza and Formentera, which are sung in churches at Christmas mass and Easter Sunday. Castanets, espasi - a typical Balearic instrument in the shape of a sword - flute and drums give rhythm to the music. These traditional compositions were declared a "property of cultural interest" in 2005.
Ibiza, temple of electronic music. In a completely different vein, the huge parties that have sprung up in Ibiza are now also part of the Balearic Islands' folklore. The Ibiza music scene is no longer in the limelight, famous throughout the world for its clubs with their over-the-top atmosphere, temples of electronic music. In the 1960s, when the hippies arrived in this little corner of paradise, the history of tourism on the island, and more widely in the Balearic Islands, was still being written, far from today's clichés of an Ibiza engulfed by mass tourism. There were no clubs in Ibiza at that time and the first important parties were held in large traditional fincas. This was the case with the famous Pacha, which opened its doors in 1973 in a finca. It was so successful that nightclubs soon began to flourish on the island and with them, in the 1980s and 1990s, the great experiments of the techno movement and electronic beats, which still continue today
In order to get a closer look at this hedonism that seems to be so much a part of Ibiza's DNA, we recommend you read the book Ibiza mon amour: Enquête sur l'industrialisation du plaisir, published in 2012. It is the result of a three-year investigation by French philosopher and sociologist Yves Michaud, who has also been a regular resident of the white island for over 30 years. According to him, Ibiza is a magnifying mirror of the desires that our liberal societies have encouraged since the post-war period, namely the search for pleasure and holidays free of any obligation. His analysis sweeps through the past half-century - from the hippie wave to the advent of techno culture and its pleasure drugs - while drawing on the author's experience in the field. The result? An uncompromising, albeit benevolent, portrait of the pleasure machine that is Ibiza.
