Party lifestyle in Ibiza
Introduction
Modern international system of state division is complex and changing. Developed over the centuries, currently it changes so rapidly that sometimes political and cultural leaders do not grasp the situation in time. One of such dynamically varying divisions is a nation state. Basically, the nation state was formed during the last century. This general form of state organization is totally different. Colonial and territorial empires of the past caused the appearance of this revolutionary change in the world's political affairs. The nation state is a complex definition in sociology. Such type of political unit consists of an autonomous state occupied by people who share a common history, culture and language. It is important to say that both entity for a nation and territorial unit are sovereign. In most cases of nation states nearly the whole population consists of ethnic groups.
The nation state is a better form of state organization because first of all economies and societies are able to develop. When centralized dictatorship controls all the spheres, a democracy in the sole environment cannot appear. Moreover, the nation states have a tendency to enlarge territories. Modern nation states refer to a single or multiple nationalities and determine a system of law, an official language or languages, fosters loyalties to other political units and manage a currency system. A nationality becomes a source of legitimacy in nation state`s political system. Additionally, these forms enable to be free from the ownership of land. A form of economic prosperity depends on industry, capital investment and trade.
Nation state definition
Definition of a nation state is often confused but totally differs from a "nation" or a "state". There are some important reasons to differentiate them. First of all, a nation is considered as people`s union which can be identified culturally and linguistically. Therefore, it is only a socio-cultural entity which does not necessarily take into account formal political unions. Secondly, a state is referring to a political/legal entity comprised of a defined territory, a permanent population, a government and the capacity to take part into relations with other states. The term of a nation state combines both political and socio-cultural factors.
Currently nation states face environmental and economic problems, such as climate change, resources, population, education, infrastructure, peoples' expectations meeting and the most important managing the flow of finance and trade in the world. Nevertheless, the number of nation states grows because they are ready to cope with new economic, social and political realities. The new entrants in the political system bring with them. The nation states can be taken as new opportunities and new problems for the international political system. The international orders have to be able to attempt to solve these difficulties.
The bright example of a modern nation state is Ibiza. One of the Balearic Islands, this Spanish world`s most famous resort with a normal population of 100,000 people attracts millions of tourists every year. Sunny beaches, the island's natural beauty, relaxed attitudes and clubbing changed it into a favorite summer holiday for youth from all over Europe. As a touristic place, Ibiza started to boom from 1960s, when first hippies arrived there. 10 years later newly opened discos and nightclubs started attracting young people of a new range. By the end of 1990s Ibiza became a premier destination for British, who even started buying cheap apartments here. Thus, it is easy to imagine the impact of tourists on the regular citizens` lifestyle. This question is very ambiguous and is to be analyzed deeper.
From one side, tourists` flow provides a sizeable amount of jobs which develops economy and strengthens the tourism sphere. From the other, economy of Ibiza is currently based on the tourism sector only and the problem of sustainable development arises. Additionally, the environment is suffering, and now there is lack of water, land and energy. Unreasonable resource use and extensive environmental degradation brought the island into a very bad condition. The worst consequence of tourism is new roads` expansion, rural depopulation and problems of crime and drugs. Many people from the countryside have moved and continue moving to the towns in search of jobs within the tourist industry. As a result, village communities lack skilled labor and are ageing. Larger roads damage environment extremely, destroying unique nature of the island.
However, drug, crime and violence effect beyond national boundaries above all and become a social issue for Ibiza. Shootouts between drugs gangs and English mafia sometimes happen here. One could not believe that an idyllic place in the sun transformed into a drug-dominated monster. It is hard to accept as true that every night 40,000 ecstasy tablets are consumed in Ibiza clubs. A paradise turns into hell. If it happens, that local police reveal the pills in a pocket of a tourist; they confiscate them and let the tourist go. There are no penalties or punishment for that. Among other things, social media daily informs that more than 80% of all drug overdose cases are happening with tourists. Unfortunately, here it happens that drugged and drunk people lose consciousness on the beach or bench by the sea, and there is not always somebody who comes to their aid in time. Tremendous amount of the cases caused by ingested liquid ecstasy, tranquillizers, marijuana and alcohol. Moreover, the majority of patients are men between the ages of 18 and 30. Most of foreigners treated for intoxication are British and Irish.?Generally, more than a third of tourists coming to Ibiza every year are British.
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British youth occupies Ibiza
These statistics is thought-provoking. The annual summer invasion of British youth became a tradition. For people who do not like clubbing it can be surprising and strange why they come here. Two main questions to be analyzed are why they had chosen this resort as a favorite destination and how do it influence their subsequent lives.
Rave culture of Britons of 1980s linked to the drug ecstasy consumption was reflected in clubbing on Ibiza. Basically, youth came and continue coming here for 24-hour clubbing. Ibiza is not just a name of the island. Today it is a popular music brand which sells various types of tapes with dance-music in its own right. These tapes are highly sold in Britain and famous among youth. The British elite of Disc jockeys can hold 10,000 people each at once. Run by large consortiums, night-life here transformed from an illicit pleasure for a trendy into the mainstream and a sophisticated business. Although along with the night-clubbing, fuelled by an abundance of alcohol and drugs Ibiza acquired a bad reputation in Britain admitted as the centre of dangerous debauchery. A documentary Ibiza Uncovered strengthened this judgment. A lot of scenes showed up as British teenagers consume drugs and alcohol more than they can handle. Young Britons behave badly, and local authorities have to deal with young tourists` degenerate behavior.
San Antonio is the resort on the west, and it demands the main action. English youth here betray themselves through draping large cross of St George flags on their hotel balconies, sing the anthems of the invading army, and every night in Ibiza pubs and discos are turned into a rowdy Saturday night back home. Cheap beer and easy-to-find drugs cause breaking out severe fights. Some of them end up with hospitalization, paralysis or even fatal outcome. Nevertheless, Spanish and British officials are motivated to play down violence and rowdiness in Ibiza. Many would argue that what goes on in San Antonio Of course, accidents in San Antonio is nothing worse than British fights going on a Saturday night in many town centers in Britain. But here these accidents, such as near-fatal stabbings or slaughters, become regular and unpunished because money tourists bring here make the Ibizians tolerate San Antonio excesses.
However, people once visited clubbing Ibiza become increasingly controversial back home. The impunity once tasted there, changes the youth`s minds. This resort mainly attract socially immature youth ready to try various types of drugs and alcohol in order to taste a real life. Consequently, they behave disgracefully and feel themselves free. The youth stop controlling themselves and underestimate the legal, social and medical risks. Thus, a diligent student from a prestige British university purchase illicit drugs and try to smuggle them across an international border. Being caught, he even does not realize the whole responsibility to be taken because Ibiza lifestyle makes people careless and adventurous. Holidaymakers are being affected by the social influence of the atmosphere on the island. Drugs strongly affects people`s judgments and lower their inhibitions. They start doing dangerous things they are not used to do and lose contacts with family. Some of them even try to recreate it in Britain overwhelmed by this experience. Physical and mental health suffers from social influence of drugs and as a consequence, can rapidly change teens` future. If friends and people around use amphetamine or marijuana, scientists say that it increases the likelihood of using it by more than 100%. The spread of behavior in social networks during the permanent night-clubbing changes people`s lifestyles. Thus, this island of two cultures latently brings social changes into cultures of tourists` origin.
Anyway, the belief that the whole island is occupied by unruly British youth is wrong. The rest of the Ibiza, outside San Antonio, hosts an increasingly civilized, rich and cosmopolitan tourist industry. Spanish businessmen understand that the solution can be in keeping the different types of holiday makers apart from each other. For example, a rather high entrance fee consciously price British teenagers out of the clubs of Santa Eulalia or Eivissa. The target audience in these clubs is older and represents the other parts of Europe, like it was in the past when Ibiza was attracting tourists and families from Finland, Sweden, Italy, Germany and other European countries.
Conclusion
Currently Ibiza is trying to decrease negative social influences and make a cultural shift. Out of 111 places Ibiza was rated by the experts as the worst island in terms of tourism impact in 2007. The local government realized that this problem is really massive. They also realized that in order to save impressive environmental and cultural heritage, situation is to be improved as soon as possible. Although, the bad reputation will make it slower than the current government wants, and they clearly understand it. A high accident rate, alcohol, noise and drugs are hardly associated with high-class tourism. Promoting leisure facilities and cultural heritage is going to revolutionize the image of Ibiza. Attracting visitors only by raucous nightlife, sun and sunny beaches is going to stay in the past. This transformation will be hard to achieve, but possible, authorities believe.