Spot the pre-seasoners

March is a very special time in Ibiza. The sun is shining, there’s a feeling of positivity in the air as our favourite restaurants and shops open up their doors for a clean-out and a re-paint before they open up for another season (but more on that next month) and there are a lot of cool events happening – and plenty of time to enjoy them. And who you’ll spot at these cool events, in addition to your island friends, family, clients and co-workers (because EVERYONE is happy to be out socialising again!) are ‘the pre-seasoners’. Not to be confused with the first influx of tourists for the year, pre-seasoners (a little term I coined myself) are our future neighbours, friends and colleagues, here on a pre-season mission scoping out the island for apartments (may the force be with you) and jobs. Of course, some have already made the official move, with the season getting longer and longer each year. In the past, the trend was for pre-seasoners to make their first trial visit at Easter, before returning in June, but these days the best advice I could give anyone contemplating a pre-season run is just get yourself out here NOW. Because now is when the networking is happening at the aforementioned events. Now is when the apartment hunt is at its peak frenzy and now is when more seasoned residents have time to mingle and meet (because the fact is when summer comes, they’ll be off in a flurry of work, traffic and madness). Now is the time to make friends!

Spotting the pre-seasoners make the rounds makes me happy every spring. I love the fact new people are finding new reasons to fall in love with our home. I hope never to become one of those cynical ‘the-island-was-better-when-Space-was-open-air’ type grumblers (though I have been known to slip). Nothing will ever be the same as it ever was and the island will always mean many things to many people, but to pre-seasoners, Ibiza can be a symbol of hope, of freedom and of a new life that lies ahead. What I like about spotting a pre-seasoner is the spring in their steps, the way they are still more tapped into current fashion (not having yet embraced boho – you’ll see more structured outfits and brand name gear). Their accessories game is strong and girls tend to make that little extra effort with their hair and make-up and the way they lap up the sunshine like it’s their last day on earth. After ten years in Ibiza, I don’t always feel the urge to get outside and make the most of a sunny day – now I enjoy pottering away hanging pictures or binge-watching TV like regular city folk do – but I definitely admire the devotedness of the pre-seasoners to the sun god!

The pre-seasoners are the ones wearing little sundresses or shorts at beach barbeques or sunny summer events, getting early tans while year-rounders are sweating profusely in cardigans and boots as they hang on to the last thread of winter (admittedly the tables turn at sunset when pre-seasoners start to shiver as the sun goes down and eye off the year-rounders cosy scarves with envy – but you’ll see. They’ll learn! Year-rounders are here to teach, while pre-seasoners are here to be educated.). The pre-seasoners are the people on the beach brave enough to take a dip in the icy waters and then they are the ones sunbathing even when there’s a brisk breeze in the air. Pre-seasoners are the ones who are out at parties each and every night. The ones who don’t seem to get hangovers and spring out of bed to do it all again the next day. And the day after that. They are the ones excitedly talking about new DJ residencies and opening party date announcements and they are the ones filling your social media feed with glorious pictures of Ibiza in the springtime. To me, the pre-seasoners are like the island cheerleaders. They remind me each and every year of just how much I still love Ibiza and all it has to offer. And while I might still be wearing a scarf and holey Ugg boots every day, wishing for an extra month of winter and avoiding that extra glass of vino on a ‘school night’ these days, there’s a part of me that wants to don my Ibiza cheer squad uniform, pick up some pom poms and join that perky pre-season cheersquad. Because I do love Ibiza. I am excited for the summer ahead and I want the world to know it. I’m going to do it. I’m going to let my inner pre-seasoner cut loose – I’m going to throw a sundress over a bikini, dash into the sea and then warm myself up by drinking cocktails at a party all night long… Though I may just wait til Friday, so I can sleep off the hangover without missing any work…