MetaphoreCarlos Martorell first came to Ibiza in 1962. At the time, the island was the poorest place in Spain, but it was an unspoilt beauty with no tourists. He travelled around the island on horseback because there were hardly any roads. Many of the country houses had no running water or electricity. And he fell in love with the then-unknown island of Ibiza and began to promote it.
In 1968, Oriol Regás, the owner of the Bocaccio nightclub, hired him to lead an expedition to Ibiza by private plane for one hundred and twenty of the club’s clients. It was the first time that the phrase “Party in Ibiza” appeared in the Spanish press.
He was so fascinated by the island that he abandoned his law studies and left Barcelona to live in Ibiza during the hippie years.
In 1970, he bought a house in Dalt Vila, a World Heritage site. For thirty-five years, he rented a beautiful home in the countryside, without electricity or running water, where he could spend the summers. This old house, lit by over a hundred candles, became famous. It was visited by many important people, such as Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy, Countess Jacqueline de Ribes, Elle MacPherson, Valentino, Naty Abascal, the architect Ricardo Bofill, Giannina Facio, Princess Lee Radziwill, Ernst von Hannover and Mikhail Baryshnikov, among many others.
On the island, he organised the openings of the Pacha, Charlymax, Amnesia, and KU nightclubs. In 1978, far ahead of his time, he organised an enormous ecological and prescient party against plastic: the “Funeral for the Mediterranean”, filling the vast swimming pool of the KU discotheque (now Privilege) with lots of plastic. The dress code was Mourning. Guests were given a candle at the entrance to walk in a procession around the plastic-filled water, with Mozart’s Requiem playing in the background.
In his first novel, “Requiem for Peter Pan in Ibiza” (translated into English on Amazon), Carlos tells stories of the fantastic 1960s, 1970s, 80s, and 90s.
His second novel, ‘La Memoria Enjaulada’, is about Alzheimer’s disease. With the photographer Toni Riera, he produced the PACHA book “El Baile”.
He has organised 24 editions of PACHA’s Flower Power VIP party. The most important social event of the summer. The party has become very famous, and there is a Flower Power party every week. Due to the success of his parties for clubs, hotels and restaurants in Ibiza, Carlos has been asked to organise events in Madrid, Barcelona, Paris and New York for Tiffany, Cartier, Rabat, Vuitton, Dior, Calvin Klein, Etro, Polo Ralph Lauren, Gucci, Mango, Chanel and Swatch watches, among many others.
Another facet is that of a photographer. He was privileged to travel worldwide in the 1970s, taking many photographs. He also organised several exhibitions of his pictures, printed on canvas, in Madrid, Barcelona and Ibiza. He exhibited his photographs of the “Rajasthan 1974” collection in Madrid and Ibiza.
He spent seventeen consecutive autumns in New York, where he was in contact with the most creative groups of the 70s and 80s, such as Andy Warhol, Halston, Mick Jagger and Bianca, Elsa Peretti, Grace Jones, Paloma Picasso, Liza Minelli, Marisa Berenson and many more.
He is an Ambassador of Ibiza Luxury Destination and Ambassador of Ibiza Preservation. The new Hotel Mongibello has named a suite after him.
With his charisma, he maintains excellent relations with the crème de la crème of international society, who have chosen the island of Ibiza as their favourite destination to relax and party.
Carlos Mundy
Clifford Thurlow
Dixon Acosta
Elga Wimmer
Metaphore
