ONE BIG WEEKEND

Asubdued flight home to Britain was the prediction from Simon Rose, the guide for our stay on Ibiza and owner of Velo Club Ibiza, the leading bike-touring and hire firm on the island. It was a calculation made from the fact that Ibiza was emerging from its opening weekend, not just from a long winter but from over two years of Covid-inflicted darkness. As one of the world’s biggest clubbing destinations, Ibiza’s nightlife was decimated during the pandemic and hadn’t been fully open so far this decade. For an island whose income is so influenced by this sector, it’s had a bruising impact.

So it would be a big weekend indeed, making the return flight back to Bristol a far more restrained, glassy-eyed affair than the raucous booze-fuelled flight that had brought us out. I, too, was slumped in the seat, only for very different reasons. Ibiza had been ’ staff choice as our very own opening weekend: a first Big Ride off