Discover Formentera’s Charm at Casa Pacha
So, it’s August 1968. I go to this full-moon party on Formentera with two gay friends of mine and it’s incredible – there are sheep roasting and drummers going, and everyone’s in chiffon and bells and beads. I heard that Lester Waldman sold the pictures to Vogue. As dawn was breaking, I looked up to the roof of this little finca and there was this amazing-looking man – like King Charles, with the sun rising behind him. I just said, “Wow, who’s he?”
The Allure of Formentera
Patsy Tilbury, mother of the make-up artist Charlotte, had just met her husband for the first time. Along with many others of her generation, she had been seduced by the tiny Balearic island’s reputation as a hotbed of freewheeling bohemianism. Like Ibiza, Formentera has long attracted free spirits, from counterculture refugees Pink Floyd and Joni Mitchell in the 1960s to Kate Moss and Jade Jagger in the 1990s.
Resisting the VIP Lure
Unlike Ibiza, however, the itty-bitty isle has resisted the lure of the VIP. Flashy hotels are almost non-existent. Both locals and devotees are fiercely suspicious of development. Casa Pacha, the latest outpost from the ever-evolving lifestyle brand, opened in May 2021 with less of a fanfare and more of a flutter. The group had been hankering after a foothold here for decades and its island roots run deep.
A Glimpse Into History
In the early 1970s, the club’s first afterparties were held on the neighbouring islet of Espalmador, where wide-eyed flower children tripped out at dawn and piled into fishing boats laden with baskets of food and wine. Those were the glory days of naked, nut-brown bodies and abundant marijuana. Pacha founder Ricardo Urgell often said that without Formentera there would be no Ibiza.
The Transformation of Casa Pacha
Renovations of the formerly gloomy Apartamentos Es Arenals, decked out in gingham and pine, began in 2019. The transformation has been deft and thorough, with acres of creamy micro-cement and subtle curves – and it is a makeover: the building is on a long lease from its Formenterenc owners and the notoriously rigorous Costas department forbids construction close to the dunes.
The 14 suites are all named after giants of Pacha history: Pachacha (the club’s Latin-vibe backroom), Parrish (the exotic dancer synonymous with Ibiza), and Paula’s (the epoch-defining Seventies boutique in Ibiza Town).
