Space Ibiza has been a key part of the make-up of Ibiza since it opened amidst the acid house boom of the late ‘80s. Although it arrived later than the other iconic clubs on the island, its open-air terrace revolutionised clubbing on the island and paved the way for the likes of DC10 and countless other outdoor venues and parties in years to come. Its epic opening and closing parties – making use of its car park and seeing tens of thousands of people passing through its doors across the weekends – mark the unofficial opening and closing of the Ibizan clubbing season.
With the dust settling on the 2014 season, we took the opportunity to speak to one of Space’s in-house promoters, Juan Arenas, to get the inside story on the world-famous venue.
Q. How did you first get into promoting?
A. I actually started to promote at Space when we started doing our own events.
Q. What were the most valuable lessons you learnt in your early years promoting?
A. Everything done must be for the crowd.
Q. How did this eventually lead to working with Space?
A. I was working in banking and was offered to work for Space, so I decided to do so on the summer time and at the same time to do a degree in international leisure and tourism management in London.
Q. Was it a daunting prospect at first, working with one of the biggest club brands in the world?
A. It was really difficult for me on my first years, as there was no one over my position… so I remember my first days just going through all the invoices that the company paid for the last five years, just to have a radiography of the club.
Q. Can you remember the first party you promoted for them?
A. The first party was Be with Danny Tenaglia as a resident – actually his only residence in Ibiza.
Q. What does a day in your working life look like? What are your duties?
A. For me it is very interesting and enthusiastic as everyday is different. My duties include marketing plan, booking the program, collaborations, staff, etc. Very busy but at the same time, very thankful.
Q. What do you think makes the club so special?
A. Probably it’s history about leading the “day time opening” clubbing.
Q. How was summer 2014 for Space?
A. It has been a tough summer, but at the same time really good one.
Q. What do you feel has been the general vibe on the island this year? Are there any problems that need to be addressed?
A. The general vibe has been good. But for the same activity (parties, music events, etc.) there are different taxes. We are on 21% VAT, against others doing same activity that are on 10% VAT. I think this is a big problem to be addressed…
Q. What’s your advice to DJs out there who want to impress promoters?
A. To become producers, as lately it’s really difficult to enter the game without being producing music.
Q. How do you decide which new brands or nights to work with?
A. I drink some Hierbas Ibicencas shots and I let it go… just kidding. It´s a fact of studying which proposals I have, and then depending on what is the program already at Space, some of them may work and some not.
Q. Where do you find and listen to new music?
A. I sometimes receive it directly from agencies or artists or I check it online. I like to listen all kind of music. It depends on the moment.
Q. What’s next for Space? Do you do refurbishments / upgrades every year?
A. Yes, we normally upgrade a part of the club. The NEXT Thing? This question would be better for Pepe Roselló, the man behind the curtains…