There’s a glimmer of hope that summer in Ibiza may still be possible after all. Over the weekend, Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez announced that the country will reopen to international tourists starting July 1st.
The move will hopefully support Spain’s crucial nightlife industry down the line. However, at the time of writing, Ibiza’s major clubs are still closed through the end of June and have not yet announced their own plans for reopening. Ibiza’s most popular clubs all have capacities of at least 3,000, making it difficult to imagine that any of the venues will operate even close to scale in the immediate months ahead.
Spain is the second most popular tourist destination in the world and welcomed an estimated 80 million visitors annually prior to the onset of the pandemic. Moreover, its nightlife industry supports an estimated 12% of its total annual GDP, according to a recent report from DJ Mag. Amid the two month lockdown period and halt of international travel, an estimated 1 million workers in Spain’s tourism and hospitality industries are currently out of work.
Additionally, Spain is reportedly peeling back regulations surrounding the previously mandatory two-week quarantine period for international arrivals. Still, Sánchez recognized the need to balance economic stimulus with public health safety. “Spain needs tourism, and tourism needs safety in both origin and destination,” he said. “We will guarantee that tourists will not run any risks, nor will they bring any risk to our country.”
