Even if we talk about anonymous faces… yours in Ibiza it is not so much. If you ask John Mari, affectionately baptized among the neighbors as Juanito Dalias, because of the history of his market, that hippie reserve baptized as Las Dalias and that each year attracts tens of thousands of people to the Ibizan corner of Santa Eulària des Riu, a smile will come out of his mouth and, without haste or pause, he will accompany you to give a walk between the stalls who have seen him grow.
Because even though it seems the most famous market not only in the Balearic Islands, surely from all over Spain, I've been there all my life, It was the eighties who saw the birth of the myth. Hence it is still possible to meet some of those early hippies that 30 years ago saw the birth of Las Dalias.
It all started specifically February 14, 1985, when the gallery owner Helga Watson and the native of Ibiza decided to open the heart of the garden of, at that time, the bar and party room that his father ran some craft stalls. Five stalls would be the embryo of the hippie market most emblematic in Europe, today modernized to such an extent that it has an online store.
Las Dalias in its beginnings.
today will be some 350 the names that happen in a land that has been expanding over the years. And more those who would like to be, because a position in Las Dalias has a waiting list. The accumulation of boxes of books Y dossiers of artisans in the offices that want to be adopted by “this great family” is long, almost infinite, says its founder. But you have to meet some requirements.
"In dahlias We value both the process of creation, design and production of the product, as well as the presentation of the material and the stand. automatically remains refused any product from department stores or commercial establishments souvenirs , as well as food and/or drinks”, reads the form that begins the selection process.
First facade of Las Dalias.
FIVE “Crazy”
Today the bureaucracy by force has to sneak into a place that houses more than three hundred stalls, But when it all started, there were about five “crazy people” who dared to pour their lives into this incipient place. among the pioneers we find names like Dario Bomé, whose partner, Valeria Goba, was one of the first to bet on Las Dalias.
She recalled in an interview this Italian forged as a leather craftsman, now retired, that “Four cats started and she was the number six cat on the market. We sold old objects from India and things that Valeria collected . She also wore my backpacks, bags or belts”. Like most of these early vendors, they previously used to make a living by going to the Es Cana flea market.
Chantal Arnold is another one of those iconic names. This French woman born in Nice in 1948, with a sweet look and few words, met her husband shortly before the birth of Las Dalias. “We were 5 people who started with the stalls. We were like a family. Juanito is like a father to me. He always helped me. We were very young when Las Dalias started and I can say that in 30 years I have not had a single complaint”, she told in an interview to the magazine that Las Dalias launches every year.
This daughter of artist parents residents in Deià, Majorca, she came from vacations to Ibiza in 1968 and she returned in 74 not to go anymore. upon arrival she danced at the Es Canar market She passed on the hat as sustenance until a friend introduced her to Juan and she started with a stall. sale of clothes that she bought in Barcelona.
Mora Lörranch, pioneer in Las Dalias.
to their 82 years old, Mora Lorranch is another of the great heavyweights of Las Dalias. Until this summer she used to be seen at her clothes stall; however, COVID has forced her to pause a lifestyle that she has been defending since she arrived in Ibiza at the age of 27.
Iconic figure of Las Dalias with ella's Spider Fashion clothing line, spider web-inspired crochet designs, which she sells under the brand "Power of Love Collection" one could also say that she, in herself, is an essential figure in the hippie movement of Ibiza.
This Swiss could stay working in her parents' optics but she chose another path. She studied art and at the age of twenty she went to Düsseldorf to work at a nightclub. A friend of hers told her about Ibiza and when she arrived she knew that she would be her house. And her way of life.
Protagonist in performances and model of the mythical store Paula's -to which now Loewe pays homage every summer with capsule collections–, an old photograph in which she appears with a flower crown and naked to the waist It is the very essence of the hippie movement.
Daniela Mariani in Las Dalias.
For reasons of age, personal reasons and/or the current health situation, these iconic names have recently left the market, but it does hold, for example, Danielle Mariani, Switzerland whose home is Las Dalias since 1985. The designs that she markets under the brand S'Atalaya They have legions of fans and reach stores of Milan, Madrid or Amsterdam.
In addition, you can boast that her daughter Luna continues the business. She also does not miss the date from the beginning of the flea market the Israeli Yaron Marko, an institution on the island. He knows everything about musical instruments. Not in vain he treasures more than 300. Going through his position is not only put music to the walk, but meet ocarinas, gongs, kalimbas or hangs. If you don't know what each thing is, don't worry, he will be happy to offer a master class.
Theo Panzer in Las Dalias.
THE KING OF BOOTS
Born in Germany in 1942, Theo Panzer ran a Moroccan and Latin American handicraft shop in the Netherlands when an American friend invited him in a few days of vacation in Las Dalias. It was 1982 and, like so many others, he would discover the effervescent island never to leave again.
His boots stand is also an icon, Well, he not only stood at the entrance when the market had barely been running for a few months, but he has spent three decades selling one of the most successful products of Las Dalias. Sabah Ibiza Boots is a cult brand, with nearly 10,000 pairs sold throughout its history.
The secret of its success stems from a trip to Morocco , where he discovered that the sale of carpets was not profitable, since he saw that many were deteriorated, with spots or holes. He decided to bet on using remnants to customize bags, boots or accessories, always with top quality leather.
Today he is not the only one selling such an iconic style, but it can be said that he was the first to do so. A photograph from 1985 where a tourist Maria from Hamburg, looks posing with her boots at the market, she proves it.
Nino di Matteo in Las Dalias.
CORAL EXPERT
And if Mora fled from a family past, the case of Nino di Matteo it is the opposite. This Italian born in 1954 in Torre del Greco, a town in Campania historically associated with the coral jewelry production , he boasts of family craftsmanship in a position that is still in force. bringing knowing Ibiza in the eighties , he found here the peace he needed and a house in which to make an emblem of his jewels.
His house-workshop awaits in Santa Eulalia, with old books where they appear studies on prehistoric corals, paintings dedicated to this precious stone or publications that collect catalogs of religious goldsmithing. Considered a magical stone in Ancient Egypt, coral stars in a good part of his creations. He still gets the coral from his hometown for later carve it, weld it and create a unique piece that he sells at his stall dahlias, today run by one of his sons, also a jeweler craftsman.
Di Matteo told in an interview that “When I arrived in the 1980s, there were very few of us and antiques from Africa and remote places were sold. Times change and now there are no longer such original and special pieces as in the beginning, but the most authentic spirit is still maintained: it is still an alternative place. The vast majority of us are artists and friendly people, who respect their environment”.
Fluffy in Las Dalias.
AN ODE TO COLOR
The last (anonymous faces) will be the first, it is often said. This story is closed by an Italian whose colorful dresses have been falling in love for 30 years. Anyone who comes to spend a week on vacation on the island has had a permanent job at Las Dalias since 1990. Your personality and your authenticity make of Maria Angela Fioroni aka Pelush, one of the great icons of Las Dalias. she is and style, freedom and color.
With her mother, Victoria, who was a dressmaker, she learned to design and sew. Her passion would lead her to start a path behind the scenes as a theater costume designer. That love for color is reflected in his cotton and crochet creations handmade dyed.