Hippies and hashish: a flashback to Ibiza's bohemian past.
In a series of his essays, Ibiza-based author, historian and publisher Martin Davies remembers forgotten moments in the island's history.
One of the most dramatic events in modern Pityusan history was the Great Hippie Expulsion of September 1969. In the wake of three articles by ABC journalist Alfredo Semprúnunder the joint title ‘El mito hippie en Ibiza’, island authorities decided to crack down on unwanted ‘peluts’ (‘hairies’) – as hirsute visitors were then called. Over two weeks about 150 from a dozen different countries were deported in an image clean-up reported right across the globe.
One Californian News-Sentinel drew up a graphic list of ‘hippie happenings’ that began with ‘Sex orgies in the caves of Formentera: men and girls sat in the nude around a human skull taken from a nearby cemetery. When moonlight came, the orgy began.’ The same article alluded to the hippies’ ‘feeding on drug traffic between the Mediterranean islands and Algeria. ABC said tons of hashish, marijuana and other hippie drugs came to the sunny isles.’
Photographs of Formentera hippies are relatively rare, but the group portrait above shows another side of the sensation. Staring evenly at the lens we see a gathering of self-composed mavericks who have apparently mislaid their clothes by accident and are about to retreat to an inner room for a regular board meeting. The ‘hideout’ lies in a part of the island made noteworthy in recent years by high-level winemaking and vacationing designers – but was then in the back of remotest beyond.
Formenterans relish their island’s reputation for ancient mysteries, and one of its greatest has been the capacity to bring man and nature together in perfect harmony. Known in earlier times for the longevity of its inhabitants, it now wears unofficial laurels as the premier hippie spot in the Mediterranean. All thanks to the crackdown of ’69, faithfully reported in every newspaper on the planet.
PHOTO CREDIT: Michael Mills, Cueva de los contrabandistas / Smugglers’ cave, Racó de s’Alga, Formentera Foto © Michael Mills, c. 1969.
p. 267 in Eivissa-Ibiza: Island Out of Time / La isla de antaño (Barbary Press, 2005).
