Author Description

"What is Ibiza like in winter?" When curious tourists asked me that question, I always used to answer something like this: it is an extraordinarily beautiful island, brought to verdant life when the first rains of winter kiss the parched soils of summer. The people who were born here, the Ibicencos, are a tough, resilient, yet good-humoured and tolerant race with a proud and complicated ancestry that embraces the solid common sense of the farmer and the adventurous spirit of the pirate. They are truly the salt of the earth, or at least close to it, with the salt flats of Ses Salines just next door to the city. The island is also home to a diverse population of foreigners, who have chosen to live in "the world's largest voluntary lunatic asylum," according to Ra, the history teacher who lived in a tree. The diverse population of escapees, geniuses, renegades, free spirits, old hippies, retired army officers and others come out of hiding during the winter months and follow their own chosen paths through life, consciously or unconsciously following the golden rule of life on Ibiza: "Live life as you want to, but allow everybody else to do the same."This book is a snapshot, a story of one year on the island as seen from the point of view of Don C. Andrews, who came to the island as a teacher, but quickly became a learner and a lover of an island where life can be hard and tough, but never boring. As he says in his preface "this book is a love letter to an island."For those unfortunate enough to live in the cold and dark of the Northern Europe in the winter, this book will bring a touch of Mediterranean sunshine and freedom to the darkest months of the year. And for those perceptive tourists who have asked the question - this is what Ibiza is REALLY like when the tourists have all gone home.