By Lauren Lucy

Ibiza Town.

If you were to type “Ibiza” into your search bar, the descriptions would fall along the lines of it being a Mediterranean island known for its wild nightlife, filled with people shopping and exploring the amazing attractions. So when arriving in Ibiza last month over Spring Break, I expected nothing less.

On the drive from the airport to where we would stay, I noticed the streets looked empty and stores looked vacant. Was this due to the effects COVID-19 might have had on the small Spanish island? But, to my surprise, this is apparently normal during most months outside of the hot, summer months of the tourist high season.

Marina Ibiza.

Ibiza is one of Spain’s Balearic islands, about 21 miles long, and is filled with tourists June through September. The remaining months of the year are known as off-season, and the island is mainly occupied by locals. When tourists flood the island, many locals choose to travel elsewhere because the nature of the island shifts and becomes too crowded for many locals to continue to enjoy their homes. During the off-season, the majority of restaurants, clubs, shops, and stores are closed and won’t reopen until late April to prepare for the herds of travelers.

Marina Ibiza.

The island consists of three main areas: Ibiza Town, Santa Eulalia, and San Antonio. We stayed in the marina near Ibiza Town. In Ibiza Town, we enjoyed traditional Spanish meals at restaurants like Trattoria, Roto, and Calma. While walking the streets by the marina we were able to admire the calm, cool water. And beyond the docks, we could admire the beautiful white buildings from the Old Town that were laid over the mountain. The buildings are traditional Spanish architecture, and from far away you were unable to tell that these homes and buildings were separated from one another. The streets and sidewalks were primarily made of stone, making this small city look even older. In order to go to a restaurant, we had to navigate through winding roads and sidewalks that would open up to hidden areas. It was quite a maze! While the sun was out, people spent their days shopping in the Old Town, as there are many stores and boutiques. And when the sun disappeared during the night, music and voices carried through the streets as people enjoyed the lively bar and restaurant scene. Within the maze of the town, my family encountered openings in the streets with bars where locals gathered and danced. While we were eating at one restaurant, a popular song began playing, and all the other customers began to sing along. By the end of dinner, my family and I were singing along with the locals to the catchy tunes.

Octopus from restaurant Roto.

My family stayed on a sailboat in the Marina Ibiza. The  marina was surrounded by restaurants, clubs, and shops, but most were temporarily vacant due to it being the off-season. At the end of our pier was my favorite restaurant from our stay, Roto. Not only was the food immaculate, but the experience was out of this world. When we walked into Roto, music blared and the lights dimmed, with a disco ball in the middle. The room was filled with tables and not one empty chair. The restaurant had everything centered around various famous music albums. The menu was sectioned off based on these different albums and categorized each dish with a song in the album. The food consisted mainly of tapas, a traditional Spanish food arrangement of small plates, and each bite exploded with flavor. Each dish tasted even better than it looked presented on the plate. Throughout our meals, we tried bruschetta, octopus, lentils, beef, and many more.

Beef and lentils from Roto.

We visited the town of Santa Eulalia for a day to shop and walk around the beautiful streets, and enjoyed traditional Spanish food. The town surrounded white sand beaches, which overlooked the cliffs in the distance. We enjoyed locally made gelato while walking down the stone sidewalks.

On our journey back to the marina from Santa Eulalia, we stopped by two stores that our family was told we had to visit. But what can be so special about a store? When driving up to the famous SLUIZ, there were colorful statues of cows hung from trees and dispersed throughout the lawn. We walked into the store, and I was immediately intrigued. The store had a clothing department, home department, restaurant, and café. The restaurant was filled with colorful chairs and uncommon foods. The café’s walls were decorated from the top to the bottom with mirrors and old dolls. The clothing and home department did not contain a single dull color; only neon and bright colors. This was not a store, but rather an experience. The other store we were told to visit was the Sal de Ibiza store where they sold locally made salt. They created different flavored salt, as well as a variety of chips.

Coffee from Massa.

Due to my family staying on a sailboat, we took many trips to the supermarket down the road from the boat and stocked up on large loaves of bread, eggs, butter, jam, ham, and cheese, adjusting to the common breakfast prepared in Spain. We fixed breakfast on the boat every morning but would walk to a nearby coffee shop named Massa, where we would enjoy the traditional café con leche.

Staying on a boat in Spain had both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages included the beautiful sunsets we could watch from the bow of our boat. It was also nice that our rooms moved with us when we sailed to different islands and locations. We had the opportunity to sail to nearby Palma de Mallorca, a Spanish island larger than Ibiza. One of the disadvantages to living on the sailboat for a week was being in close quarters with everyone, and since we were on a foreign island, we only associated with each other. Overall, Spain was an incredible experience culturally, and returning to American food and lifestyle was a tough adjustment.

All photos by Lauren Lucy.