The history of Amnesia - Ibiza

Hér að neðan gefur að líta ágæta samantekt af sögu Ibiza síðustu áratugi fléttað saman við sögu hins heimsfræga diskóteks, Amnesia.

The house where Amnesia now stands was built at the end of the 18th century. Five generations of the Planells family lived within its thick, whitewashed walls. They cultivated the land and built a mill out of stone. During the first half of the 10th century the poor that came to beg, received bread, cheese and dried figs.

The first foreign visitors to come to the island arrived towards 1950. They were drawn to the island by rumors of its mysterious legends and its breathtaking untouched nature. In 1954 people like Aristoteles Onassis or Rainier of Monaco were startled by the beauty of the Pitiusan coves. Ibiza then discovered tourism and began to prosper and grow.
However during the 60's the ones to really enjoy the island were the hippies. They were the first to transgress. Idealists from all over the world chose Ibiza or Formentera as their paradise to live in peace. They listened to music, enjoyed the nature and smoked.

In 1964 the Rolling Stones spent a couple of days on holiday in San Antonio. By now the island had more than five thousand hotel occupancies. Europe convulses in May of 68 whilst the film More, with music by Pink Floyd, filmed and inspired in Ibiza, presents the island as paradise for drug consumption.

In March of 1970 the Planells family decide to end their long life in the country and move to a flat in town. They sell their 'finca' (country house) and the house to Maria Fuencisla Mart`nez de Campos y Muñoz (a widow from an aristocratic background). This is when the most recent history of our discotheque really begins.

The island begins to enjoy a freedom unheard of in the rest of Spain. The house soon to become Amnesia turns into a meeting point for idealists and counter-culturists. The hippies play in live bands and amongst their friends, they dance till dawn, prepare vegetarian meals and ecstasies with The Doors whilst smoking and experimenting with LSD. They touched the heavens, organized art exhibitions and many other events.

In 1974 a young man born in Madrid, with a degree in philosophy came on to the scene, his name was Antonio Escohotado. He arrives on Ibiza looking to start a new life. He is soon to be the new apostle for the new drug experimentations.

On Nov 20th forty years of dictatorship end. Franco dies and Juan Carlos the 1st is proclaimed king.

One fine day in May 76 Antonio makes a deal with the landlady of the house and she rents it to him for 20.000 pesetas (120€) a month. Now all that was left was to christen the discotheque. He thought hard about this until he came across the name, The Workshop of Forgetfulness. He wanted to express that when people go out at night it is to forget their problems and indulge in an unknown world far away from ordinary routine. The next day he realized that just one word from Greek etymology explained it all. This of course was Amnesia and that is how the islands most authentic discotheque was born.
The summer of 78 Bob Marley gave an unforgettable performance and 'new wave' begins to blossom whilst 'Saturday night fever' shows its premiere release. Disco music heiress to the Philadelphian sound, eclipses into rock and the rhythm at the disco's start a new hedonist way of life.

That year amanufacturer from Madrid named Ginés Sánchez takes over Amnesia. This seams was achieved by other promoters during negotiations on the island. This is when a decade of ups and downs begin, during which unexpected closings of the discotheque are intertwined with glorious summers with the crowd at its most and in full on competition against the other discotheques, such as Ku (now Privilege), Pacha, Glory's and Lola's (these last two no longer exist).

In the 80's a young Basque initially linked to Ku is become the leading character in the most famous events in the old house in San Rafael. The person in question is Prontxio Izaguirre who brought fresh ideas to the nocturnal life and brought Amnesia to spread its fame throughout Europe.

Almost in a breaths take the music changed from Led Zeppelin to Bowie, from Springsteen to Madonna and from Donna Summer to Prince. The discotheque went from egg-carton soundproofing to a new, captivating and powerful sound. This is when dance music began and new trends and fusions. The line is faded between pop and funk. Hip-hop is born along with break-dance and rap. Free style in mixing is permitted and house is about to take over.

The Ibizencan discotheques introduce the magic of open rooftops and the original Balearic sound emerges and dj Alfredo Fiorito is the man heard.

The most important changes came from the hands of MFC at the beginning of the 90's. The Berlin wall comes down and house music becomes international. The night of the 22nd of June 91 is still remembered to this day on the island. It's another day in history for re-openings. Thousands of young people invade Amnesia, labeling the beginning of the last most fruitful times in this temple of sound.
The clubs of Ibiza start to become famous worldwide. Although due to neighbors complaints the authorities oblige them to cover the dance-floors, which had traditionally functioned in the open air. Nevertheless Amnesias expansion is unstoppable. From four bars it grows to sixteen, from thirty employees to more than two hundred in mid summer. These include waiters, spectacular go-go dancers', security, light-jockeys and office workers amongst others.

In 1999 the UN claims Ibiza cultural heritage. The island reaches one hundred thousand habitants and the label Amnesia extends from magazines to records, cloths'etc. Its fame grows like its foam, that foam that names one of its most important performances. Today in the 21st century who hasn't heard of parties like 'Cocoon Club', 'La Troya Asesina' or 'Cream'? Disc-jockeys like Sven Väth, Paul Van Dyk, Dj Tiësto, Danny Tenaglia, Laurent Garnier or Carl Cox are just some of the legendary stars to have passed through the dj booth.

Likewise the list of rich and famous that have been to the disco during their summer holidays is endless' Naomi Campbell, Puf Daddy, Dolce & Gabbana, Bono, Boy George, Elle McPherson, George Michael, Valentino Rossi and Calvin Klein' the gods of fashion and beauty.

One of the secrets to its success lies in the quality of its sound. Today the discotheque has one of the most advanced sound systems (Expanded Amnesia Technology) due to the dynamic electronic process. Its function is to analyze and submit frequencies that provoke the human body to feel sensations that compare to having a sound massage' enjoy it!
From 2006 til date, Amnesia has been awarded for 3 consecutive years the prestigious BEST GLOBAL CLUB award in the Winter Music Conference which is held every year in Miami during the last week of March.

In 2009 Amnesia installed a system of 24 color lasers with the latest technology controllable like a robot. 23 lasers are 1 Watt RGB and there is one high power RGBY Matrix. The combination results in a spectacle unimaginable.

Currently Amnesia is about to begin to open franchises in four key destinations, these franchises must meet strict requirements to guarantee to be as similar as possible to the original club of Ibiza (www.amnesia.es/history).

Njótið dagsins.
Bestu kveðjur frá Ibiza,
Sigurjón Sigurðsson.