What people currently think of as luxury is the antithesis of the old simplicity that characterized the traditional Ibizan lifestyle, with the inhabitants enjoying the privilege of austere but leisurely days on a small island in the Mediterranean. It was an easily manageable environment. Nothing broke the balance of the simple life here that was attuned to the cycles of the land and the richness of the sea.
For example, at dusk or when it was already dark, people used to gather at a neighbor’s house to enjoy an evening of conversation and tabac pota (tobacco that had been grown on the island), songs and music.
Neighbors and relatives also carried out certain tasks together in the countryside, such as a day of slaughter or the shelling of corn. While working, they talked about everything. Artists who have been visiting the islands for decades, such as the Catalan painter Laureà Barrau, who has a museum in Santa Eulària des Riu, have immortalized some of these communal chores in their paintings.
When summer came, the wells and springs scattered about the countryside were also a meeting point for celebrating the end of the work in the fields and to send up a prayer that there would always be enough water for a good harvest. Through the traditional Ibizan dance, the ball pagès, a ritual was celebrated that goes back to the ancient ceremonies of the cult of water, a source of life which guarantees the good fruits of the earth.
Each dance was an important event with anyone who wanted to joining in. Fortunately, these rites are still celebrated in many parts of the island and some of these wells and springs have been protected and restored and still retain their simple beauty. An Ibizan painter, Narcís Puget Viñas, who has a museum in the walled city of Dalt Vila, a World Heritage Site since 1999, painted many daily scenes full of color and movement.
In the city, the street was embraced by the residents, who strolled along it, enjoying the cool evening air. It was a space for play and leisure, for meeting, conversation and work. Often, women would sit in their chairs outside their homes and start sewing or embroidering while they enjoyed the night and chatted to their neighbors.
As for the children, besides helping with the housework, the street was their playground. Back then, soccer balls were made of rags, but the lack of cars meant the children could play in the middle of the street. When a car approached, the game stopped for a moment only to start again as soon as the vehicle disappeared in the dust. They had few toys, but a lot of imagination, meaning they could entertain themselves with anything. That was their childhood. And so life went by.
