2023-08-15 18:30:03
Whether you are in Ibiza, Barcelona or Madrid, the end of the day is always beautiful. An attraction in itself, popular with tourists and locals alike, enthuses the Spanish weekly “El País Semanal”.
On this Sunday at the end of May, it is 7 p.m., and the terrace of the Kumharas, a small institution in Ibiza for twenty-six years, is a bit painful to see. Two tables, no more, are occupied, out of the twenties that Miguel Costa, founder and owner of the place, has strategically oriented towards the sea and the rocky beach. We were however told that this bar in Sant Antoni was one of the most popular on the island at sunset time.
A little crestfallen, we take a tour of this town on the west coast of Ibiza, between remnants of the tourist offer intended for the English on board (alcohol galore and breakfasts based on sausages) and new businesses visibly aimed at transform the corner into the new South Beach. The spectacle of change gives reality to certain statistics, such as this: last year, Ibiza welcomed 3.4 million tourists, 8.3% more than in 2019 (before the pandemic, therefore), but for expenses up 91.8%.
We return to the Kumharas an hour later – our iPhone tells us that the sun will set for that day at 9:04 p.m., seventy minutes later. This time, the terrace is crowded, a DJ is on the decks, and the waiters are agitated in all directions. “You have to have a lot of people at work and flawless logistics for it to work. For two hours, before and after sunset, we don’t stop”, explains Miguel Costa.
“I tried to open in the morning, offering yoga, workshops for children, but that doesn’t make up for it. What people want is that. I try not to be very expensive, I make the mojito for 10 euros, which is reasonable on the island, because I want to have this kind of varied audience, as you can see: people who work, islanders, foreigners, families. I was also offered to do some before for clubs, but I never wanted to. Seeing the sun go down is what pleases everyone”, he said, pointing to the king star descending at full speed towards the Mediterranean.
The music drops, an almost total silence sets in, then somewhat timid applause, as sometimes when landing by plane, and it’s over: it was the 149ᵉ sunset of the year 2023.
“When I mix for a sunset, I consider the time and the place, tells us a few days later Grayson Shipley, alias DJ Grayswan, the 50-year-old Briton who was on the decks that evening. At Kumharas, my mix was a little more ethnic and festive than what I can do elsewhere, because it corresponds to the clientele.”
Relaxation
The sunset actually has its soundtrack and, since a series of compilations released by the very trendy coffee of the seait is made of very deep house sounds, a style inspired by house, less dancing, more introspective, which pleases both to start the evening and to end the day.
There is in the epithalamus (a region of the brain) a small endocrine gland, the epiphysis, which has the function of regulating the heartbeat and biological rhythms, including the alternation of wakefulness and sleep. Also called “pineal gland”, it sleeps during the day to become active when the natural light drops, at sunset therefore, and secretes melatonin, a hormone that helps to reduce cortisol, the stress hormone. The sunset therefore corresponds, physiologically, to the passage of the body from day mode to night mode, accompanied by a mental calm.
“It is the transition between stress and activity on the one hand, and relaxation and rest on the other”, summarizes Violeta Alcocer, clinical psychologist and director of the Hortaleza 73 center in Madrid.
“The sunset provides the ideal spectacle for these neurochemical changes, bringing sensory stimuli that heighten the feeling of relaxation and well-being. The natural spectacle combines perfectly with the effects
#Spain #revolves #sunset