Super-rich snub Sardinian superclubs

Club owner Flavio Bristore lashed out at Ibiza recently in response to reports that his ultra-rich Sardinian superclub ‘Billionaire’ is struggling as a result of the credit crunch. The Observer newspaper said Russian oligarchs have replaced Billionaires’ usual euro-trash elite, prompting Flavio to issue a statement dismissing claims that Billionaire has lost its ‘class’. “Take Ibiza, where the low-cost flights unload tourists for quick trips to discos that hold 5,000 people,” the Sardinian billionaire said. “Now that’s vulgar.”

Despite his claims, the Daily Mail reported that hundreds of elite super-rich clubbers attended a party at the private estate of merchant banker/friend-of-Prince-William Max Gottschalk, where Pete Tong DJed. A list celebs including Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon and Bob Geldof attended the ‘fairly wild night’, as did film starlet Sienna Miller, who the Mail said spent her whole night dancing with ‘some random guy’.

Mixmag, meanwhile, published a cover article asking whether ‘real ravers are being priced out of Ibiza’, and whether the authorities want to turn the island into a ‘playground for the rich’, a vision Ramon Balanzat, spokesman for Ibiza Council’s tourist department, seemed to find appealing. “There are different kinds of clubbers. Some have good jobs back home and appreciate the beauty of the island. But others come and want to party for a week,” Mr Balanzat told the British magazine. “That isn’t an image we want.”

“The idea of turning Ibiza into an oligarch’s playground might have a financial appeal but could be catastrophic for the island’s clubbing mainstream,” Mixmag concluded. “Without the atmosphere generated by a clientele who are interested in more than just spending money, Ibiza’s clubs would lose their charm pretty quick. Don’t believe it? Try naming a club in St Tropez,” they pointed out.

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