As the curtain came down for the final time on Carl Cox’s 27 year mission at Space Ibiza, its owner and one of San Antonio’s favourite son’s, Pepe Rosello, made an impassioned speech from the pulpit he shared with Cox and Nic Fanciulli. His words echoed around the emotionally charged old conference center, as many held back the tears and others openly wept as Pepe said his final goodbye to his Space family, “Thank you very much to all of you. Your emotions and our love will remain here forever”. The final sentence in that quote still rings true, that the energy of those emotions remains in the ground where Space once stood. Many great civilisations built temples and churches on land that they felt held the energy of past souls. The Mary Of The Snows Cathedral in Dalt Villa is a fine example of this, under its floor are the ruins of Mosques, Temples and Pagan Altars – Holy ground in a sense.
What happened to Space and the reasons why, are now consigned to the history books. In Ibiza the locals will tell you that business is business and you never mix it with love or friendship. It is true that Space Ibiza has not traded on the island since 2016, it has however held a number of events around the world and has astutely kept its brand in the headlines by dropping hints and rumours about its future. A rumour I ran about Space possibly relocating to Sankeys seems to be a red herring at this stage and in my opinion, the old club will never operate profitably located in the back garden of a powerful competitor. Cova Santa’s past and present difficulties are an example of what happens in Ibiza when a business tries to operate in a municipality outside its own without due respect paid to local laws and customs.
Nobody wants to see everything that Space stood for fade away, its ethos and spirit left an indelible mark on the islands cultural identity, much like Alfredo’s tenure at Amnesia back in the eighties. Old wounds heal and in life and one thing we can’t do is to halt progress – it’s what makes us human, the desire to reach further, pushing the envelope of life and to keep exploring. The talented French team behind Hi, the Night Leagues Pissenem Brothers, have built an impressive theatre of digital dance on the ground where Space once stood and it was badly needed. Space in its final years, was showing signs of age alongside the infighting which resulted in many high profile names departing the Club. Space was not such an innocent party when it came to the business side of dealing with competitors and DJ’s – I doubt the management at DC10 shed too many tears at the news of Space’s decommissioning.
So with every exit strategically blocked, what options are left for Space to operate on the island of Ibiza again? Well the most obvious and logical one is to return to the ground its energy once flowed through, but issues around how the brand will trade in Ibiza and the obvious personal reasons, have clouded the situation . Knowing the team at Hi, I would be fairly certain they would love to host a Space Ibiza party and would have no problem facilitating it. Like The Manumission saga, both sides would have to agree to terms and conditions before it could happen, one cannot do it without the other and in relation to Space, Carl Cox, is the asset that adds the real value to the brand, he is the raw talent to Pissenem’s creativity and management skills. To date the Frenchman has convinced many integrity conscious DJ’s to play at Hi – Jamie Jones and Eric Prydz are two that spring to mind. Can he engineer a Roman style Triumvirate solution in this situation, where certain political issues are parked in exchange for the economic advantage of the Triumvirate – a lesson on how to do business in Ibiza.
One would have to admire Carl Cox’s loyalty to Pepe Rosello, his mildly negative comments towards Hi after the Space closure, were understandable, considering his close relationship to an old friend who came out the losing side of a perceived wrongdoing. In Ibiza I have learnt that nothing is ever what is seems and the old adage that there are three sides to every story, your side, their side and the truth, aptly applies on the White Isle. Ibicencos have their own language and business rules unique to their culture and only Pep and Abel will know what really happened behind the closed doors, the rest of us are only speculating. It is also true that time is a great healer.
On June 19 next, when Carl Cox stands alongside Nic Fanciulli on the Ushuaia Stage less than 100 meters from the spot where both men brought down the final curtain on the old Space tenure, something many felt would never happen two years ago, one could forgive people for thinking it was a Space Ibiza flavoured party. Is it too far a stretch of the imagination to think that Hi could be the new home for a Space Ibiza weekly residency? In terms of distance, it’s about 200 yards away but for some conservative minds it could be light years, but now I do sense a change of mood in the air. If people can let go of the past and embrace the present, something Ibiza and Space was always about, then some magic could happen.
In a World that is becoming less tolerant and increasingly violent, now more than ever, we need the old Space values of respect and peace to shine true. It should always be about the music, something we can be reminding the next Space generation about and if an all day and night Space Ibiza event can take place at Ushuaia and Hi, then I will be there for it, as it’s becoming the most logical and practical option for it. Like days of old at Space, if people can leave their political baggage at the front door and just be part of a great party it could become a reality. But then I was always considered a dreamer……
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