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Welcome to Ibizology, a podcast exploring the culture, history and arts of the Balearic island of Ibiza. I’m Will Beacham, an Ibiza-based journalist and in each episode I interview an Ibizan who is contributing in some way to life on this wonderful island. Through their words I aim to bring to life different aspects of island living as they tell their unique stories. The Ibizan music you hear was recorded in July 1952 in the churchyard of the village of St Josep by the musicologist Alan Lomax. It is called “Bon amor jo et venc a veure” which translates from Catalan as “Good love, I come to see you.” It is part of a huge archive of folk music he recorded all over the world. The Ibizan segment of the archive can be heard at http://research.culturalequity.org/get-audio-ix.do?ix=recording&id=11950:89&idType=subregion&sortBy=abc The music, from the Alan Lomax Collection at the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress. Used courtesy of the Association for Cultural Equity. Painting of Ibiza's Dalt Vila by Vicent Calbert, courtesy of Bar Costa, Santa Gertrudis.

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Check latest episodes from Ibizology podcast

Saigo Dicenta: Indian classical musician, founder of Sant Joan market

2026/03/03

Saigo Dicenta is from a famous Spanish family of artists who moved to Ibiza in the 1970s. He grew up there amongst the hippies and freaks and was inspired to become a student of Indian classical music. Saigo is a key part of Ibiza’s live music scene and founded the Sant Joan hippy market to bring music and culture directly into island life.

Iban Yarza: bread and birds of Ibiza

2025/11/11

I’ve always been interested in bird watching so a few years ago I went on one of the excellent walking tours organized by the local authorities here in Ibiza. While most of the group were chatting away in Catalan I found myself strolling along next to a Spanish man who also spoke perfect English, and who is also a journalist like me, but with a focus on a quite extraordinary topic. It’s taken several years to organize, so I’m delighted to welcome to the Ibizology podcast the Iban Yarza, who has been described as Spain’s bread guru. Iban has published six books on the culture and history of bread in Spain, and has taken a keen interest in the bread in Ibiza, where he had lived since 2016. Iban is also a knowledgeable ornithologist so today I want to explore both aspects of his expertise - the bread and birds of Ibiza.

Ben Dunwell: The Dark Between Our Fires

2025/06/22

Ibiza-based writer, Ben Dunwell, has just published the second in a series of novels about the early settlers on the island, who arrived here around 650BC. The Dark Between Our Fires also references the San Juan fire jumping festival which takes place on 23 June each year in this tiny village in the north of Ibiza.

Andrés Coll: Ibizan percussionist and musician

2025/05/21

Andrés Coll is a professional Ibizan percussionist and musician who loves to fuse the sounds of Ibizan folk music with other musical traditions. Andrés sees a connection between the music of Africa and Asia and that of Ibiza. Through this blend of different cultures he wants to convey the message that: “We are all human and share the same origins.” Andrés says the folk music of a place is shaped by its environment. Ibizan folk music has a positive, uplifting tone reflecting the island’s weather, the sun and its people.

Islamic Ibiza with Jordi Vives Colomar

2025/02/23

For foreigners like me who are the latest invaders of Ibiza, it is fascinating to delve into the history of this jewel in the Mediterranean Sea. Most of us are vaguely aware that it has been conquered by various cultures over the centuries such as the Phoenicians and Romans. The invasion which led to centuries of Islamic rule in Ibiza before the Christian Catalans arrived is particularly interesting. I was very excited to come across a detailed study – a masters dissertation no less - focussed on rural Ibiza during the island’s Islamic period. And I’m delighted to welcome to the podcast Jordi Vives Colomar from Barcelona University, who wrote this 150-page study which left me overflowing with questions.

70 years of Las Dalias with Juan Mari "Juanito"

2024/12/01

We meet Juan Mari “Juanito” who took over the famous Las Dalias hippie market and music venue from his father in the 1980’s. Founded in 1954, Juanito describes how local families from St Carles would come to dance and celebrate with the young men asking the mothers’ permission to dance with their daughters. In those distant days Ibiza was a very different place and Las Dalias has moved with the times, welcoming artists, hippies and tourists through its gates from the 1960’s and ‘70s onwards.

Rebecca Frayn - environmental activist, film director and author of Lost in Ibiza.

2024/06/09

For this episode I travel high into the hills above San Vicente to meet the author, environmental activist and film director Rebecca Frayn who has just published Lost in Ibiza. This is a novel about climate change, family dynamics and the different tribes of people who inhabit this island. We talk about the book and explore other Ibiza-related projects Rebecca is involved with.

Emma Salahi: Oriol Maspons Ibiza - hedonism and humour in the 1980's

2024/04/26

Emma Salahi is co-producer of a new Ibiza photobook featuring the work of the famous Spanish photographer Oriol Maspons. He visited Ibiza from the 1950’s to the 1980’s and captured the essence of the hedonistic side of the 1980’s, as well as the traditional side of island life. Emma sifted through 500 of Oriol’s images to choose a selection which are full of humour, fun and laughter. Emma also runs the Ibiza-based art gallery Agony and Ecstasy.

How marine archaeology explains Ibiza's history: Enrique Aragon

2024/04/12

With Ibiza being such an important trans-Mediterranean trading post since the Phoenicians set foot on the island, the seas around the island contain a real treasure trove of ship wrecks. Marine archaeologist Enrique Aragon spends much of his time exploring the area and in this interview reveals how important these remains are for our understanding our island’s history. His work also shows how Ibiza was part of a sophisticated trading system stretching from the UK to North Africa and the Middle East.

'Voyage and Discovery': a portrait of Ibiza in 1932 by Conor O'Brien

2023/12/18

'Voyage and Discovery' by Conor O'Brien is an account of the sailor and travel-writer's journey by boat to the White Isle where they moored up in Ibiza harbour for almost a year in 1932. His vivid descriptions of town and country life, as well as the landscapes of the island, are quite riveting. Ibiza's Barbary Press has just brought out a new edition of the book and in this episode I'm joined by publisher Martin Davies. You can meet Martin and other distinguished speakers at the official launch: 7.30pm on 20 December at Sa Nostra Sala, Carrer d’Arago 17, Ibiza Town.

Ethnomusicologist and Ibiza expert Judith Cohen

2023/06/06

Regular Ibizology listeners will, by now, be very familiar with the Ibizology intro/outro music. This haunting music was recorded in the 1950’s in Ibiza by the American ethnomusicologist, Alan Lomax. My guest in this episode of Ibizology is the editor of Alan’s Spanish collection of folkloric music. She has developed a deep understanding of Ibiza’s traditional music and how it fits into the family of folk music around the world.

SOS Club Nautico!

2022/12/04

For almost 100 years Ibiza’s club Nautico has stood in the city’s harbour, not far from the Formentera ferry terminal. The club, an institution much-loved by Ibicencos, has seen the area around it transformed, modernized and commercialized in tandem with much of the rest of the island. Now the same powerful forces which have altered so much of Ibiza are circling this place. Plans have been drawn up which could see the club close and this last bastion of traditional Ibiza in the port, crushed to make way for more millionaires. For this special episode of Ibizology I visited the offices of club Nautico to meet Vicent Canals Riera, the club’s director general. Martin Davies - the original Ibizologist - translates my questions into Spanish and Vicent’s answers back to English. Please come to Club Nautico at 730pm on Friday 9 December for Pirate Island, a celebration of boats, books and buccaneers from the Phoenicians to Club Nautico. Martin will be speaking along with some other experts. €10 entry on the door.

Dominique Sanson - artist, philosopher, musician

2022/11/18

The artist, philosopher and musician Dominique Sanson is perhaps most famous in Ibiza for his panel of paintings which depict Ibiza’s from pre-history until modern times. But his art goes way beyond these, with his unique style depicting many topics which highlight the beauty of the island and its inhabitants as well as his sufist beliefs. You can see many examples of his different styles of art by visiting dominiquesanson.com In this interview Dominique describes his early life in Paris where he was a student just as the 1968 riots broke out. His life in Ibiza brought him into contact with the hippy culture which he admires to this day, and opened his mind to a philosophy of humility, openness and love. He says “several times i left ibiza forever but I’m hooked, I’m an addict.” Ibizology image by Vicent Calbert; courtesy of Bar Costa, Ibiza.

Dean Gallagher: snake man of Ibiza

2022/07/24

With invasive snakes out of control in Ibiza, and local lizards heading for extinction, British-Australian Dean Gallagher has battled to return the island to its previous snake-free state. This has not been easy for Dean, who suffered nightmares about snakes in the early part of his campaign. Even now he performs a ritual to calm each creature before killing it, and says he would prefer to export them back to the mainland if this were permitted. Dean describes vividly the impact snakes have had, with some parts of the island now denuded of birds and lizards, where the only sound is the slithering and hissing of snakes hiding in the undergrowth. I met Dean at a finca near Santa Eularia where the gentle giant had just rescued a drowning baby rabbit from the pool.

Women were second class citizens, except during courtship and dance: Toni Manonelles

2022/06/12

Women have suffered as second class citizens in most traditional, patriarchal societies around the world and Ibiza was no exception. Females had far fewer freedoms and rights than men and were often excluded from secondary education right up until the 1970s and ‘80s. However there was one moment in a woman’s life when she was in control of her destiny, and exerted power over her family and the males she came into contact with - the period between the start of her courtship and the moment she got married, including the rituals of dancing. This extraordinary and unusual aspect of traditional society is believed to be unique to Ibiza and Formentera.