Published
Fri, Jun 4, 2021, 10:00
- We spoke with Anna Tur, who helped lead the online campaign that forced the change.
The government of the Balearic Islands was forced to reverse a controversial decision to ban DJing earlier this week, Diario de Ibiza reports.
On Monday, May 31st, the governing council issued a regulation forbidding DJing under current Covid-19 measures. "The performance of a DJ is an entertainment activity by mechanical or electronic means typical of a party room, dance hall, café-concert, disco, and cocktail bar," the council document read. "It cannot be considered either background music or live music, therefore it is an activity that is not allowed under current regulations."
The following day, June 1st, after an organized online campaign got under way, the government published a new statement concluding that: "the performance of a DJ is a cultural activity of live music."
"The reality is that the Balearic Islands have been trying to change the tourism model for some years," Anna Tur told Resident Advisor. The Ibizan DJ, who recently established a Balearic DJ and producer association, sees the attempted ban as a continuation of measures designed to restrict clubbing culture.
"In the beginning, in the '90s, it was fine because everybody was making money in Ibiza, but now the people with money forget how we were before this movement started on the island," she continued. "The new generation is less open to this kind of tourism and way of life."
Tur, who helped lead the online campaign against the regulation, told RA that the decision was reversed within 12 hours. "I think the industry has power with respect to social media. The local government [of Ibiza] helped. They took note and they listened to us."
Over in Madrid, the Spanish government has agreed to allow regions with a low Covid-19 infection rate to reopen nightlife under certain restrictions. The Balearics currently fall into this category, though the region's health minister, Patricia Gómez, said the government was in no hurry. "We're still in favour of a slow easing of restrictions," she told journalists. "We know we have a lot at stake."