IbizaPreservation has announced it allocated over €360,000 to its four strategic projects in 2021; Konstantinos Panagiotidis of Jul’s Restaurant has been named Best Bartender in Spain 2022; Tourist spending in the Pityuses in May amounted to €404.7million – 15.3% above 2019, the year before the pandemic hit. Nativ Alert: news from Ibiza and Formentera you should know.
1. ECOLOGY
IbizaPreservation has announced it allocated over €360,000 to its four strategic projects in 2021: Ibiza Produce, Plastic Free Ibiza & Formentera, the Sustainability Observatory, and the Protection of Posidonia. Highlights included delivering 11,190 meals to families in need as part of the Ibiza Central Kitchen initiative and removing 16,000kg of plastic waste from the supply chain.
2. HELP!
Ibiza Town’s Vila Parc Clinic has opened a new emergency department with the aim of offering fast care for non-hospital emergencies. The centre is also building new operating, hospitalization and diagnostic rooms. Of the latter, the most important will be the PET CT scan room, according to the Grupo Policlínico, which will improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in Ibiza.
3. BEST BARTENDER
Konstantinos Panagiotidis of Jul’s Restaurant has been named Best Bartender in Spain 2022 and will now take on bartenders from 50 other countries in the world championships in Sydney in September. Panagiotidis had to overcome various challenges to win the title, including a blind tasting and a speed event in which he had to make six cocktails in six minutes.
4. THE BIGGEST WATERMELON
Grower Toni Pep March from San Carlos has taken the prize for heaviest melon at the World Watermelon Championships. The winning melon weighed in at a huge 26kg – a record for the competition, which was organized by Agroeivissa in Blanca Dona.
5. SPORTS
Spain’s National Sports Council has awarded the Royal Order of Sports Merit to Ibiza-born Olympic walking medallist Marc Tur, as part of its Equals in Sport initiative and LGTBI+ Pride. “I feel very proud and very happy,” he said. “I did not expect it. There are many people who also deserve this medal. My performance in the Games marked a turning point.”
6. MORE TOURISTS!
Tourist spending in the Pityuses in May amounted to €404.7million – 15.3% above 2019, the year before the pandemic hit. 2022 is currently on track to become the best-ever season in Ibiza and Formentera.
7. RADIO DAYS
Ibiza Global Radio is expanding into Italy, Dubai and Madrid. The group’s move into Dubai marks the first time a Spanish radio station has entered the UAE market and gives it the opportunity to gain a broader leadership in the Middle East and western Asia.
8. BEACH KIOSK
The Formentera beach kiosk saga rumbles on after it emerged that a firm offered €173,500 a year to take over one beach bar when the asking price was just €20,000! The iconic kiosks are being offered to outside investors for the first time, sparking local uproar.
9. SUSTAINABILITY
The Palladium Hotel Group is ramping up its renewable energy plans as part of its commitment to sustainability. In Spain, 100% of the energy consumed in all the group’s properties comes from renewables – through either guarantees of origin or its hotels’ 1,327 solar panels. The company’s sustainability drive also includes waste management, a reduction in single-use plastics, and support for local products.
10. POSIDONIA
Posidonia S.A. has been granted permission to install the Sa Sequi salt channel gate in the es Brolls area of Formentera. The gate will safeguard against contamination in the sea and help protect biodiversity and bird life in the Salinas de Formentera. The company has begun to exploit the Marroig salt flats and export liquid salt to Brussels.
