Could British clubbers save Ibiza's summer season despite a ban on dancing?

What will party island Ibiza be like in the summer of 2021? Lucrezia Millarini finds out

A ban on dancing on Europe's most famous clubbing island has threatened Ibiza's summer season.

Last year, Ibiza's summer was cut short by strict Covid rules that made dancing illegal amid Spain's tough regulations aimed at slowing the spread of the virus.

Nighttime curfews were also introduced, putting a further dampener on the island's 24-hour party culture.

This season will be make or break for many businesses on the island, which relies heavily on British holidaymakers.

In 2019, nearly four million British tourists visited the island; last year that number was down 93%.

Spain's Balearic Islands are on the UK government's 'amber' list which means British tourists are being asked not to holiday there, although the Spanish government have opened up the country to visitors.

Millions of British holidaymakers flock to Ibiza every year. Credit: On Assignment/ITV

For tourists who do decide the trip to sunny Ibiza is worth quarantining on their return for, they face a very different Ibiza to the pre-pandemic 24-hour party island.

Ibiza's party hub, San Antonio, should be alive with music and crowds at this time of year, but instead it is a ghost town, the bars and clubs boarded up and closed.

Artistic Director at Amnesia, one of the island's most popular venues, Neil Evans told ITV's On Assignment that the dancing rule could keep people away even if the Balearics are put on the green list.

"We have no indication when that's going to end either. So theoretically we could have the club open with tables and a smaller capacity maybe, or if there's no dancing again, people can sit down. It's just not what this club's built around," he says.

Wayne Lineker, brother of football Gary Lineker, is something of an Ibiza institution. He runs the hugely popular Ocean Beach venue.Speaking to On Assignment, he says nearly all of his customers come from the UK and without them, things have been hard.

Wayne Lineker, brother of footballer Gary, runs the hugely popular Ocean Beach on the island, a magnet for British holidaymakers

"We need Boris [Johnson] to understand that we can't play around with time any more we can't sit here in another two months time thinking 'when are we gonna get the green light', because everyone on this island is dependent on tourism, like literally everybody," he tells On Assignment.

The frustration of people in Ibiza is compounded by a slow vaccine rollout that could further delay an overturn of the dancing ban.

The dancefloors of Ibiza have been silent since October 2019. Credit: On Assignment/ITV

The Balearics Islands' vaccine drive has been slow, partly, because the population on the islands is young, Ibiza's president Vicente Mari Torres says.

He says a successful vaccine rollout will be a first necessary step if the ban on dancing is to be lifted.

With dancing illegal, face coverings on the beach compulsory and curfews in place, as things stand, for Brits planning a holiday to Ibiza this year, it is going to be a different experience.

Watch the full report from Ibiza in On Assignment, broadcast on ITV at 10.45pm on Tuesday 25 May and on ITV Hub