The Birth of the Afterparty: Where It All Went Down When the Clubs Closed

Ibiza is no stranger to sunrise. But for decades now, the first light of day hasn’t signalled the end of the party, it’s marked the start of something new. In Ibiza, the afterparty isn’t an add-on. It’s an institution. A rite of passage. A subculture within the culture. It's where the rules get hazy, the music gets weirder, and the stories become legend.

From the 1990s to today, the White Isle has cultivated a unique relationship with the after-hours. As clubs closed, the real heads knew: the best memories were just beginning. Whether on the beach, in a sweaty terrace, or tucked away in a hidden villa, Ibiza afterparties have birthed scenes, launched careers, and blurred the boundaries between night and day. This is their story.

Space Ibiza: Where It All Took Off (Literally)

If Ibiza’s afterparty culture has a spiritual birthplace, it’s the Space Terrace. Beginning in the early ’90s, British DJs Alex P and Brandon Block created a daytime phenomenon that felt revolutionary: dancing outdoors in broad daylight, eyes shielded from the sun, bodies still pulsing from the night before. Located directly under the flight path of incoming planes, ravers would routinely cheer as jets thundered overhead, adding to the euphoric madness.

At a time when most clubs around the world were winding down by sunrise, Space was just opening its doors. Its open-air format and marathon sets rewrote the clubbing rulebook. Carl Cox’s legendary residency cemented the venue as a global after-hours Mecca. “See you on the terrace” became a mantra - and often, a challenge. Space didn’t just host afterparties. It defined them.

Circoloco at DC10: The Monday Morning Movement

While Space ruled Playa d’en Bossa, DC10 emerged from the dust beside Ibiza airport as the anarchic younger sibling. Launched in 1999 by two Italians, Antonio Carbonaro and Andrea Pelino, the first Circoloco events were free Monday morning gatherings of about 80 people, dancing on a concrete terrace to minimal grooves. It was raw. Loud. Lawless.

But word spread. Fast. By the early 2000s, Circoloco had become the Monday ritual. There was no guest list, no VIP, no marketing - just serious music and the serious heads who followed it. Everyone from Tania Vulcano to Luciano and Loco Dice cut their teeth here. It was the kind of place where you arrived on a whim and left days later, wondering what had happened to your week.

Even amid police raids and noise complaints, DC10’s reputation only grew. Today, it’s fully legal and still utterly uncompromising. Ask any underground DJ where they’d want to play a sunrise set, and chances are their answer is still: DC10 on a Monday.

The Manumission Motel: Afterparties Gone Wild

In the glitter-drenched chaos of 1990s Ibiza, Manumission reigned as the world’s most flamboyant party. But few knew that the real madness happened after the main event - at the now-legendary Manumission Motel.

Conceived by party architects Mike and Claire McKay, this converted brothel on the road to Jesús became a private den of indulgence. Each of its 15 themed rooms played host to performers, celebrities, and wide-eyed clubbers swept in by invitation. This was no ordinary afterparty - it was a surrealist cabaret with no end.

One infamous tale involves BBC Radio 1’s Lisa I’Anson, who disappeared into the Motel’s grip and missed her morning broadcast - a scandal that became tabloid fodder. As author Irvine Welsh put it: “The Motel was a cavern of chaos. You didn’t know what day it was, or if you were ever going to leave.”

The Motel was eventually demolished in 2005. But its legend? Untouchable.

Bora Bora: Beachfront Freedom

Few venues encapsulated Ibiza’s carefree spirit like Bora Bora Beach Club. Situated directly on the sands of Playa d’en Bossa, Bora Bora was a beachside dancefloor open to all. No cover charge. No pretense. Just sun, sand, and the steady thump of house music from afternoon until, well, whenever.

In the late ’90s and early 2000s, under the guidance of resident DJ Gee Moore, it became the unofficial follow-up to Space. You’d leave the terrace drenched in sweat, grab a drink, and stumble barefoot onto Bora Bora’s dancefloor - a wooden deck scattered with sunbeds, people dancing on tables, and jet trails crisscrossing the sky.

Bora Bora’s secret was in its openness. Clubbers, locals, DJs, and curious tourists all shared the same space. And when classics like Ultra Naté’s “Free” dropped as the sun dipped low, the whole beach erupted. It closed in 2022, but the memory of dancing there, toes in the sand, remains one of Ibiza’s purest joys.

The Kave: Ibiza’s Underground Cathedral of Afterhours

Tucked away in the forested hills of Santa Eulària lies one of Ibiza’s most elusive and mythologised afterparty spots: The Kave. Operating strictly through word-of-mouth, The Kave has become a modern-day legend among after-hours lovers. Inside, the air is thick, the walls drip with condensation, and a kaleidoscope of lights flicker off jagged rock as deep, hypnotic house reverberates through the stone. Attendees describe it as an "Alice in Wonderland" descent, complete with surreal decor, round hobbit-like doors, and a dancefloor that feels like it was carved straight out of the earth. With line-ups often kept secret and sets from the likes of Solomun stretching past 14 hours, it’s become a pilgrimage for the brave, the bold, and the beautifully unhinged. Despite growing scrutiny from local authorities, The Kave continues to capture the rebellious spirit of Ibiza’s underground sometimes, you just have to be in the know.

Pikes: Decadence in the Hills

Long before influencer culture turned boutique hotels into photo ops, Pikes was a real-deal hedonist hideaway. Perched in the hills above San Antonio, it was home to Freddie Mercury’s infamous 41st birthday party - a three-day extravaganza involving dwarves, debauchery, and hundreds of bottles of Moët.

In the 2010s, Ibiza Rocks revived the venue, preserving its rakish charm and relaunching its in-house club “Freddie’s.” Suddenly, afterparties for the Ibiza Rocks live gigs were back at Pikes, with DJs like DJ Harvey, Fatboy Slim, and Sven Väth spinning unannounced sets in intimate rooms packed with those in the know.

At Pikes, anything could happen. Often did, and still does.

The Villas: Off-the-Grid Magic

No list of afterparties is complete without mentioning Ibiza’s legendary villa sessions. These are the stuff of whispered invites and wild legend - a friend of a friend with a place in Es Cubells, a secret sunrise set from Solomun, Ricardo Villalobos spinning in someone’s garden until Tuesday afternoon or Michael Bibi carrying on his Solid Grooves residency long past DC10’s closing time.

Unregulated, unpredictable, and often unforgettable, villa parties carry the essence of the after: music, connection, and a total disregard for time. They’ve become rarer thanks to noise crackdowns, but they endure as the purest expression of Ibiza’s “anything goes” energy.

In Ibiza, the afterparty isn’t the end. It’s the next beginning. And for those who’ve danced past dawn, shared stories on sun-soaked terraces, or climbed into taxis bound for who-knows-where, one truth remains clear:

The best nights don’t end at the club. They begin when the clubs close.