UNA ISLA SINGULAR
Antonio Colinas
There s always Las Dalias I
love getting to Las Dalias as night falls. But any time is fine to be in this part of Sant Carles, where you are still free to just sit and think, take in your surroundings and be yourself, on the island of Ibiza. Even so, Ibiza has changed since that autumn in 1977, when I came here for the first time. A few days later, in the Christmas holidays, I discovered the beautiful Atzaró Valley, which runs from Las Dalias all the way to Balàfia. During that first encounter, also at nightfall, blue smoke from bonfires floated across the valley, giving the landscape a dream-like atmosphere. Perhaps this is why every time I visit Las Dalias this is my favourite time of day, suspended between the golden lights and the foggy blues of dusk. The time that ushers in the “blue Ibiza nights”. But this emblematic part of the island does not just offer one version of itself, it lets you cherry-pick the bits you like best. The explosive mid-day, mid-summer scenarios, constantly crammed with masses of tourists. Or the more peaceful after-dinner downtime, when people wander down to the beach cool off. Or nights when the fairy lights come on in all the little market stalls and the whole place winds down, wrapped in a halo of damp shadows and
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Las Dalias
music. Las Dalias is a true reflection of its creators, those early Ibizans who chose freedom in every sense, on this island with aspirations to being a universe. Freedom whose origins can be traced in these early black-and-white photographs portraying the desire, first of these Ibizans, then of their visitors too, to enjoy themselves, to talk and to live together in respect and peace. Las Dalias also reflects all of the people who have their stalls here, more for love and hope and loyalty to a life-style than love of money. And of course, the loyalty of its many visitors. I’ve been a regular at Las Dalias since I first arrived in Ibiza, and for years now, starting from my early days on the island, I’ve had good friends here like the ceramist Antonio Peinado and the painter and designer, Ana Jakimov. My house has two modest works from each of these artists which for me contain the essence of those early times on the island. People have long seen Las Dalias as conserving the last sparks of Ibiza in its heyday and by extension, its nearby hills and woods, where other friends used to, and even today still find shelter, including English archaeologist Celia Topp, sculptor and collector of African Art Franco Monti, and painter Erwin Bechtold. They have been faithful to a way of living