BBC Radio 1 DJ and producer Pete Tong interviewed Abel Matutes Prats, CEO of Palladium Group Hotel and Empresas Matutes in the context of IMS Ibiza 2024 in an event entitled The Mighty Matutes: Abel Matutes Prats, Rebuiding our comunity (The Mighty Matutes: Abel Matutes Prats, Rebuiding our comunity).
The British DJ kicked off the talk with the Ibizan businessman talking about his roots and his father, Abel Matutes Juan. «When I was a child, before taking me to school, my father would take me to see the different constructions he was carrying out to explain to me what each of them was going to be,» recalled Matutes Prats, who acknowledged the importance of his father's influence during the talk.
Memories
Matutes Prats also recalled when «we rented what was then a beach bar to Yann and he and his colleagues did a great job» in the early days of Ushuaïa Ibiza, while acknowledging that «Yann is the best partner I could have had when it came to turning this project into what it has become today».
Pete Tong questioned Matutes Prats about the transformation of the former Space into the current Hï Ibiza, to which the businessman explained that «we were the owners of the club before renting it for 27 years. During those years the people in charge did a good job. However, when the contract ended we decided to keep the space to adapt it to the type of offer we were implementing in the area».
Platja d'en Bossa
Regarding the area, Pete Tong questioned the businessman about future projects in the water park, to which Matutes Prats limited himself to saying that «we will do something there» and went on to say that his new projects «will probably reach a higher level than the Hard Rock did at the time».
On the Matutes family's new projects in Ibiza, Pete Tong unsuccessfully tried to elicit some information from the businessman about the former Ku and the former Privilege nightclub. In a humorous tone, the interviewer also asked about a hypothetical acquisition of other leisure brands on the island, to which the businessman replied that «you can never say no, but today our focus is more on internationalising our brands than on acquiring others». «I don't quite believe that the focus is not to keep all of Ibiza», Pete Tong added to the audience's complicit laughter.
Matutes Prats defended the beach club concept in Ibiza because «you can't go against demand and there is an increasing demand for this type of daytime leisure, and what's more, those who demand these spaces are the ones who generate the most profit for the area».
On a political note, the businessman stated that «any government should be aware of how big the 'Ibiza' brand is, and the only thing I would ask of them is that they let people work and not get in the way», adding that «playing politics with tourism in Ibiza is putting your dinner plate on the line».
On the subject of sound rules and limitations, an issue that Pete Tong also raised, Matutes Prats assured that «as can't be otherwise, we respect the rules like everyone else», adding that «the difference between us and the others is that there are many people who are obsessed with us, always ready to shoot us at any moment, and for that reason we have to be more careful than the rest».
Pete Tong also asked about «those who say Ibiza is selling out to the clubs», to which Matutes argued that «that's a sign of how big the 'Ibiza' brand is». «I can't understand how many people are not able to see that the stronger we are, the stronger Ibiza's position and the offer for everyone,» added the Ibizan businessman.
The British DJ also questioned the businessman about the problem of the lack of staff in Ibiza, to which Matutes Prats acknowledged that the housing issue is a drawback in this regard and that «on our side we are building houses that we are going to allocate to our employees although, obviously, we would prefer to sell them».