Ibiza Town (Spain) (AFP)

Deprived of its 6,000 revelers and sleepless nights, the Hï club in Ibiza is nothing more than a huge dark and silent hangar. The Spanish island, which usually hosts the most famous DJs, cannot dance this summer due to the pandemic.

The regional authorities of the Balearic Islands have only authorized the opening of small discotheques with a maximum capacity of 300 people. But only for a drink and without the right to let customers dance on the floor.

The huge nightclubs, which Ibiza is famous for, must therefore put aside their season.

But these rules are not contested by the sector which believes anyway that the standards of social distancing intended to fight against the pandemic prevent any celebration worthy of the name.

"When we shout, the saliva can go up to two meters. Who will keep his distance in a nightclub?", Launches José Luis Benitez, manager of the Ocio de Ibiza association which represents the night sector on the island. .

In Mallorca, the largest island in the Balearic Islands, an association of professionals in the sector thought "to put marks on the ground, where people should stay to dance. But how do you do if a person pleases you?", He quipped. .

- Fear of dirtying the Ibiza brand -

The economic impact is unprecedented for a sector representing "more than 35% of the island's GDP" and generating several hundred million euros per year according to Mr. Benitez.

But the owners of nightclubs are resigned because they prefer to avoid any risk.

"I have to be responsible", underlines Yann Pissenem, French co-owner of Hï Ibiza, one of the biggest clubs on the island, who recognizes that if the discos were open, they would risk "creating clusters everywhere "and" kill everything else ".

"You can try now (to open) to make yourself a little money," abounds José Luis Benitez, referring to the few clubs that have defied the ban. "But that will force you to close everything, to have problems" if there is a source of contamination "and next year, the Ibiza brand will be soiled because there will be a lot of contagion".

This halt to the nightlife is palpable all over the island.

On the beaches, street vendors of nightclub entries have given way to ice cream and drink merchants with more family-friendly customers, while at the side of the roads, large billboards still advertise evenings with DJs. world famous pre-pandemic.

And on the port of Ibiza town, only the souvenir shop of the legendary Pacha nightclub is open.

- In "lack" of parties -

What disconcerts tourists returning to the island since the opening of the borders at the end of June.

"This is our first trip to Ibiza and we thought there would be parties, even if the virus is still present here, so we are a little sad", regrets Mirkan Unvar, 19, who came from Frankfurt with a friend .

For Adam Clark-Bennett, a 23-year-old Briton who has been coming to Ibiza since he was six, "music is a super important part of Ibiza, and without the clubs, Ibiza isn't the same this summer."

“At 2 am, there is no one left, whereas we thought that people would stay in the streets,” regrets Lucas Hervé, a Frenchman who came from Nantes with a friend.

The only memory of the festive soul of the island are those revelers driving around in cars with open windows with house or techno at full volume.

After this white season, Ibiza hopes to be able to quickly find the soul of its nights, without sanitary measures to respect.

"Freeze, protective screen, temperature test at the door .... I don't want to think about that for the moment because I have great faith in a vaccine (...) I really hope that we will be able to operate at full speed ", wants to believe Yann Pissenem.

© 2020 AFP