Winter rituals – Renovations

While most of the winter rituals I’ve been blogging about over the past months have been the kinds of things that would tempt a tourist to visit the island in the off-season months, today’s particular ritual is more focused towards residents and business owners… though the results of it are always about making a better experience for tourists and visitors, so it’s win/win really. So what is this ritual I speak of? It’s the ritual of renovations, of refurbishments, of reviving, rebuilding, repainting, restoring, rehashing… It’s makeover season! Walk through Ibiza town’s port area, or take a stroll through La Marina, traipse the cobbled streets of Dalt Vila or take a drive through the bumpy country caminos and you’ll see evidence of pre-summer renovations everywhere. Not only will you see it, you’ll hear it and you’ll smell it, via industrial drilling and the unmistakeable smell of sawdust and fresh paint. And while some may think it looks like a big old mess of ladders, scaffolding, machinery, buckets of paint, wheelbarrows and trucks, I see it as a representation of the positivity of the season to come.

To me, seeing all that flaking old paint being scraped off and replaced with glossy new white topcoat, or colourful new window frames and doors is like watching a Mediterranean masterpiece being painted before your very eyes. Breathing in the smell of fresh paint everywhere you go is like a whiff of positivity (hmm, maybe I find it a little bit too enjoyable!). Watching scaffolding come down after a month of hiding the buildings beneath is like unwrapping a present and seeing the streets cleared of rubble is like moving into a whole new neighbourhood over again. Note: I wouldn’t go so far as to say the sound of incessant drilling is like music to my ears at 8am. That’s just a tad too early. But I can say I appreciate the stillness and calm once it has stopped! Every cloud…

Of course, it’s not just the exteriors of buildings and business that are getting a once over in time for summer. Beautiful luxury villas are being renovated, redecorated and stocked up with all the right glassware, towels, barbecue equipment and bed linen in time for the summer rental market. Retreat centres are stocking up on new yoga mats, plush towels, organic toiletries and dream catchers. Those with summer homes on the island are getting them ready for the arrival of friends and loved ones by tending to the gardens, refilling the swimming pools and fluffing up the scatter cushions! Shop owners are reshuffling their railings and shelves, getting ready to display the new season’s collections that are probably winging their way to the island via courier as I type. Restaurant chefs are busy in the kitchens testing new recipes for summer breakfasts, lunches and dinners to come, while mixologists are shaking and stirring what will become the must-drink cocktails of 2016 and sommeliers are sipping (and hopefully then spitting!) this season’s most exclusive vinos in order to create wine lists worthy of our high-end global tourism trade. The 2016 summer season is just around the corner and I for one can’t wait to see what lies beneath all the scaffolding!