Extra! Extra! Read all about it!
 |
| Sally (left) and Pam (right)
at the old shipyard,
now the Formentera
dock and ticket office |
| Click on any of the images for larger versions |
Hello and welcome to the history page. This month we
are going to interrupt our current series in order to report
on one of the milestones of contemporary island
history. This long overdue feature takes us back to the living
roots of today's English-speaking community and explores the
foremost organ of expression within that community. We are
referring, of course, to the founding of the Ibiza NOW in 1984.
The magazine's 25th anniversary provides us with the perfect
opportunity to headline the full, unabridged story of how Sally
Wilson engendered the longest enduring foreign-language periodical
on the island today.
As we pursue our main storyline, we will also get a glimpse of
the rapidly changing society this island has experienced, revisiting
the final years of Franco's regime and meeting some of the
personalities who witnessed the transition from dictatorial rule
to modern times. However, to really understand how the Ibiza
NOW came into being, we must travel back even further to those
heady days of the late sixties, when the island was a haven
for the cognoscenti. Its social milieu consisted of a colourful mix
of artists and writers, rounded out by a few celebrities as well as
yachtsmen who appreciated Pitiusan coasts as among the best
in the Mediterranean. It was in that unrepeatable era that Sally
Wilson fortuitously arrived on Ibiza.
 |
The delivery. Actually
it hasn't changed much.
We still deliver the magazines
by hand to this day |
Click on any of the images for larger versions |
Our narrative starts in the early summer of 1965. Sally was
about to return to her native California after a year working with
a British government organisation promoting international trade
when her London friends proposed a Mediterranean holiday.
Although she had travelled around Europe in previous summers, Sally recalls looking at the photo of their holiday destination with
the word IBIZA written below and thinking "I have no idea where
that is." Little did she suspect that four years later she would be
establishing the first ever foreign language news publication on
the island, the now legendary Ibiza Insight.
First Encounter
She and her friends set off for uncharted territory under what
must have been very favourable auspices. From Ulysses' Odyssey
to the Canterbury Tales, travel has always been an open invitation
to fate, which started operating in Sally's life the moment the
island came into view before her. The sight of Ibiza old town in
the morning light was magnetising. The local villa agent, picturesquely
attired in a safari outfit, was waiting on the dock to take
them across the island in a well preserved 40s-era station wagon.
As they drove through the countryside on the dirt road leading
to San Antonio signs of the 20th century were nowhere in sight.
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| The executive editors:
Pam and Sally |
| Click on any of the images for larger versions |
Sally describes San Antonio then as an enchanting whitewashed
fishing village with not a single tall building, and a beautiful bay
mostly surrounded by pastoral wilderness. On that beautiful summer
morn, Sally was already getting an inkling of the fact that this
island was going to occupy a special place in her life.
Putting down roots
At this juncture we come to the crucial question of how Sally
ended up starting a newspaper on Ibiza.
The following summer,
once again visiting Europe, she could not resist detouring to Ibiza
to show her Californian companions the beautiful island she'd
discovered the previous summer, and her three former college
friends agreed. Once on Ibiza they all decided to stay for a while
and that was when they met an English girl, Pamela, who was
running a villa rental agency that summer. There were no villas
available so Pamela graciously invited Sally and her friends to
share hers and another glorious summer ensued. When the
others left for the USA, Sally elected to stay on.
By that time the favourable auspices had begun to manifest. Sally encountered
again the dashing Spaniard who had made a lasting impression
the summer before. Meanwhile, Pamela had met Bosky, the gregarious,
roving English yachtsman who had just arrived at the Bay
of San Antonio. Returning home at the end of summer, the two
women kept in touch between London and Southern California,
both determined to return to Ibiza the following summer.
Arriving back again in May 1967, Pamela and Bosky invited Sally
to San Antonio for a reunion dinner where the table talk turned
to the idea of perhaps doing something on Ibiza besides enjoying
the leisure lifestyle. As Sally recalls, they tossed around many
ideas about starting up some type of business together, one of
these being that of an English-language newspaper.
 |
The two
young
couples
and a
bored
Chief
Editor |
Click on any of the images for larger versions |
Back
across the island in Talamanca, Sally woke up the
next morning thinking about the previous
evening's discussion.
A newspaper seemed like the perfect idea
for their Ibiza endeavour as,
between the two of them,
there was quite a wide
range of pertinent experience.
On the one hand,
Pamela, with a degree in
Economics, had just left
a successful career in
London as an advertising
account executive.
For her part, Sally had
taken some courses
in business while
completing her
degree in Psychology
at the
University of the
Pacific. She'd also accumulated
some newspaper experience from her student days,
although never considering a career in journalism.
Clearly, these two high achievers were well suited for
the challenge of breaking ground in Ibiza.
In fact, Sally was so sure about the newspaper
that, first thing next morning, she was on her way
to San Antonio, arriving in time to announce over
breakfast with Pam and Bosky her conviction that
a newspaper was the obvious choice. By the
time they'd finished their second cup of coffee
a detailed plan of action was developing. The
first step was a trip into Ibiza town to present the
idea to the dashing Spaniard who had been
Sally's principal encouragement to return to the island
since their meeting in 1965: Bartolome Noguera.
The two aspiring newspaper editors walked into Bartolo's office
on Paseo Vara de Rey and announced their plans. Without
blinking an eye, he gave them some valuable advice, directing
them across the street to the office of his good friend, Luis Ballester,
the Delegate in Ibiza of the Spanish Ministry of Information
and Tourism. This was the person responsible for media control
on the island and was precisely the official conduit who could
provide the legal and bureaucratic assistance for obtaining the
necessary permission from Madrid.
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| The Ibiza Insight team
celebrate their 100th edition. |
| Click on any of the images for larger versions |
Reflecting on that memorable
day, Sally surmised, 'I think Bartolo must have expected that
Luis would explain how complicated starting a newspaper in
Ibiza would be; that, in fact, other people had attempted it but
never succeeded in getting through the initial process, and these
sobering comments might put an end to our wild ideas.' In fact,
Pamela and Sally came away from that meeting with the assurance
that their goal was attainable and that Sr. Ballester would
be invaluable in guiding them through the maze of paperwork
that lay ahead. This "invaluable guidance" notwithstanding, the
process would require an entire year before the newspaper got
the Ministry's approval.
Getting prepared
They two editors spent a busy winter in Ibiza. They began making
arrangements with the only printer on the island to press
their weekly newspaper run, and dealing with the never-ending
mountain of paperwork and permissions for the future newspaper.
Sally designed an eye-catching logo based on her inspiration
for the newspaper's name: Ibiza Insight, and Pamela was
ambitiously intro- ducing the concept of
advertising to the
many local business
who
would become
our future
clients.
During those
months of preparation
it became
apparent
that, although
Sally and Pamela
each brought
different strengths
and professional
experiences to
their new enterprise,
they would be
equally involved in
every aspect of running the newspaper.
For this purpose they divided the
island in half, Pamela taking charge
of San Antonio and the west coast
villages while Sally took over Ibiza,
Santa Eulalia and the eastern
side of the island as well as Formentera.
Each editor installed an office
in their respective areas, Pamela
in the premises of the boat business
that Bosky was now establishing
in San Antonio following
their December wedding, while Sally found a
spare desk in Bartolome Noguera's insurance office in Ibiza.
This set-up required an
effective means
of shuttling
material between
the two
towns. There
were no faxes,
mobile
phones or
messenger
services in
those days and
land lines were
usually overloaded
during office hours.
Hence, in lieu of a better so- lut ion,
they diplomatically enlisted the San Antonio-
Ibiza bus drivers to transport their frequent packages of articles,
photos and page layouts back and forth between the two bus
terminals, as reliably as any courier service today.
Green light
The long-awaited letter finally arrived from Madrid giving the
official go-ahead to what would become an overnight success
in the hitherto untested waters of non-Spanish news publication
and provide the social cohesion that would bring together English-
speaking residents of all stripes - and, this being Ibiza, polka
dots too!
The permit stipulated that the first weekly Tuesday
edition was to appear on the news stands on
May 21st! Months before, Sally and Bartolo had planned
a wedding for the 4th of May, with friends
and family arriving from the USA for the occasion.
The wedding went ahead, just as planned,
but their original honeymoon trip now had to be
forfeited for a brief escape to Formentera. Sally
admits to tucking a few page layouts and articles-
in-progress into her beach bag as they
prepared to sail away.
 |
| Errol Flynn (3rd left) with entourage on one of his frequent visits to Ibiza |
| Click on any of the images for larger versions |
Integration and acceptance
The first edition of the Ibiza Insight duly
appeared on the news stands and at the
reception desks of hotels on Ibiza and
Formentera on the scheduled date with
just eight pages. To everyone's
surprise it was a complete
sell out. More
advertisers caught
wind of the paper's
popularity and rushed
to be included, thus necessitating
a step up to
twelve pages by the third
edition. As news of the
paper spread, it seemed
that, out of the woodwork,
an amazing cross section
of talented, creative island
residents began to come
forth, eager to collaborate in
the new community voice.
By July, there was a need
for even further expansion and the editors managed to get a two-page insert sheet added
to the print run by the already overtaxed local printers.
Insofar as content, political controversy or tabloid sensationalism
were not options for an English-language newspaper in those
days. The era of mass tourism was already on the horizon and
Ibiza was hoping to attract its fair share, so local fiestas, cultural
events and the arrival of international celebrities served as the
front-page fare. While more and more famous people had begun
visiting the island, a celebrity arrival was still a newsworthy
event, although by this time they no longer received the red carpet
treatment that awaited them only a decade earlier.
In the 1950s, whenever Hollywood actor Errol Flynn's spectacular
yacht, Zaca, sailed into Ibiza's port his visit merited an official
escort by the island's Chief Police Inspector, Mariano Juan
Serra. The polyglot Ibicencan was on hand to accompany the
actor's party whenever they came ashore, even for evenings
out on the town...
 |
Isidora Macabich |
Click on any of the images for larger versions |
Sweet success
By September 1968 it was clear that the Ibiza Insight was on its
way to becoming an integral part of the islands' international
community. The historic boom years of Ibiza's tourist industry were
rapidly approaching, witnessed by the new hotels that were
being projected by local entrepreneurs. The Ibiza Insight finished its first season with a promising future ahead, ready to
expand in volume and desirous of improving its graphic and photographic content. The two intrepid editors set off for Palma de Mallorca to find a new printer, eventually arriving at the Spanish newspaper, Ultima Hora, where they found a friendly welcome and advanced printing technology.
Beginning with the first 1969 edition, the Ibiza Insight was printed
in Palma, soon doubling in size and adding the distinctive trademark bright orange to many of its pages.
Again, the logistical problem of shuttling materials required a novel solution, but this time between Ibiza and Palma. While
most of the newspaper originals were sent to Palma via Iberia cargo service in the course of the week to keep production
rolling, the preparation of the final pages, including the all-important front page, usually entailed a mad race to deadline. Owing to the fact that the editors often didn't get to the airport in time for Iberia's cargo service, they had to devise a way of sending the final materials that was less costly in time and money than flying over to Palma themselves.
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| Queen Sofia on a visit to Ibiza |
| Click on any of the images for larger versions |
An audacious remedy came by elevating their earlier homespun bus-courier solution to the level of aviation. Needless to say, these were the days before airlines advised travellers against accepting parcels from strangers. So, arriving together at the departure gate of the old Ibiza airport, the harried editors would quickly scan the passengers hoping to spot a familiar face, or at least a sympathetic one. Quite unbelievably, they never failed to find a kindly traveller, usually surprised at such a request, but willing to take the bulky envelope to Palma - along with a generous allowance for taxi fare - and deliver it to the Ultima Hora. Often the request was so last-minute that the editors didn't even have time to get the volunteer courier's name. Sally still marvels about the dozens of times the final pages - and the fate of the next edition of the Ibiza Insight -
were entrusted to complete strangers, yet never once did the
packages fail to arrive safely at the printer. An encouraging
witness to human integrity!
Reaching out
As soon as the newspaper was firmly established, the editors
began to reach out to the community with various activities never
before attempted on the island. At the end of the 1969 summer
season the first 'Miss Ibiza Insight Gala' took place at the then
recently inaugurated Sa Tanca night club. The 20-some contestants
of various nationalities, included local residents and others
who were here for the summer, all of whom had previously appeared
as the 'Ibiza Insight Girl of the Week' with a photograph
and an interview in one of that summer's editions. The presence
of a celebrity panel of judges, which over the years included
many film stars and international celebrities, added to the glamour
of the event, with island residents always filling the outdoor
venue to capacity.
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The welcoming committee at Ibiza's
fledgling airport in the late 60's |
Click on any of the images for larger versions |
Soon another enterprising activity was on the editors' agenda
with the kickoff of the Ibiza Insight "Keep Ibiza Beautiful" campaign.
Billboards were leased and bumper stickers printed with
the campaign slogan. Reports of these Ibiza stickers being spotted
on cars in Finland and North America confirmed that the island
of Ibiza had become a popular international destination!
Supplies of litter bags printed with the request to "Keep Ibiza
Beautiful" were commissioned and distributed to the island's car
rental agencies and various other locations for free distribution.
In fact, this may have been the first island wide ecological awareness
programme in the history of Ibiza.
By 1973 there was still another ambitious project waiting to
materialise. Yielding to the many requests, particularly from
island businesses who were seeking an effective means of
reaching German residents and visitors, the editors set out to
establish the island's first German-language newspaper, the
'Insel Zeitung'. A German editorial staff was formed, incorporating the Ibiza Insight format and some of its regular columns with
news and features of special interest to German-speaking residents
and visitors.
By the end of 1974 the 'Insel Zeitung' had reached its 24th edition
and had grown to 16 pages while the Ibiza Insight passed the 200th
edition with many of these containing 24 pages. These were busy
times for the two editors.
Changing priorities
By 1974, Sally was yearning to enjoy summertime together with her
young family, who had been patient as her work absorbed those
fleeting years. Now she owed them to her family. In early 1975 Pamela
found a new business partner to replace her and the Ibiza Insight
continued its existence, primarily under the direction of Pamela
for the next few years. Sally had exchanged deadlines, late nights
and working weekends for summers devoted to her family, sailing
around the island and dropping anchor in some quiet bay.
In the years between her departure from the Insight and her
entrepreneurship of the NOW, Sally did indeed devote herself
fully to her family... which is not to say she ceased altogether in her
journalistic activities. Life always seems to find a way to weave
our inborn tendencies into the fabric of day to day living. In the
course of the next few years, she found a way to combine volunteer
work and civic activities in rewarding roles which included
acting as the 'Balearic Swimming Federation's Ibiza Delegate'
to coordinate the team of instructors in the first island-wide programme
of swimming lessons for the island's youngest citizens.
She had found a perfect balance that revolved around her family
rather than the other way around.
Sneak Preview
Join us again next month as the next chapter of this story unfolds
and Sally embarks on another original venture in the world
of news publication.
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