The Escullos will no longer be the same
in the vicinity of The Stones ( Almeria ), everyone who managed to find his location in the labyrinthine paths of a summer night he ran into a bar that looked like something out of the craziest Tarantino movie: tents here, a bathtub there, a bed on a stage... A recycled prop that ranged from motorcycles to electric guitars through fragments of a pirate ship.
The jo's bar became so characteristic of the Cabo de Gata Natural Park such as pitas or prickly pears since it opened its doors in 1993.
A claim for travelers, bikers and rockers from everywhere that entered the list of 10 best beach bars in Spain produced by the British newspaper _The Guardian_ in 2017.
Until a neighborhood complaint ended up closing its doors at the end of last year . Since then, the French biker Jo Bell He has undertaken his personal fight to be able to reopen as soon as possible, but he has not arrived in time to do so this summer. He answers our questions from the other end of the phone.
It started as a biker meeting point and...
How has the first summer been without El Bar de Jo?
Jo Bell: Sad for everyone, for the whole bar team and for all the people who have come here on vacation and had no place to go out. Very sad.
It closed because of a neighbor complaint. Did you expect it?
No. The complaint was because it did not have a license, and because it did not keep the hours as if it were a bar. We have always operated for more than twenty years as a cultural association , Jolie Rouge, although it has taken a lot of name, yes.
We have always gone beyond schedules, but in the end everything he says is a bit false, because if you are a cultural association you can create culture: We have done concerts, painting and sculpture exhibitions, theater... A little of everything. If so many people have come, it is because we have done well, we have a good place.
What measures have been taken to reopen?
I am working with an office where there are lawyers and architects. We are going to present a project to the City Council with all the regulations it asks for, and let's see if we can open next summer.
There have also been campaigns on social networks, what has been the response?
There are many people who have answered, so you have to continue. We have almost 12,000 followers on Facebook, and from Internet signatures we have achieved almost 6,000 when we have asked for them. It interests a lot of people. If there is no atmosphere, people do not spend, and everything falls apart little by little, especially after La Haima that was on the beach has also closed. There's nothing left to listen to a little rock & roll.
Even Rafa J. Vegas, Rosendo's bassist, wore your shirt at the concert in Almería last August.
Rafa is a loyal customer and a friend. Rosendo and his son have also come, they know the bar and they like it. Even Rosendo, who never goes out, comes to drink his beer! (Laughter).
Do you think then that you will be able to open next summer?
I am optimistic and positive, why not? It has taken away a lot of employment, in the bar there are twelve people working permanently, and in some big concerts up to twenty. All people around here, that we spend our money in the village, and in the end it is a hole for everyone.
Another one of the "deceased"
If you can't reopen where it is, would you consider opening it somewhere else?
I don't think so. The soul of Jo's Bar is here . It cannot be done elsewhere, there is something here that must stay here.
Legend has it that it started, back in the nineties, with four tables and a boombox. How do you remember all that?
Very good memories, because it was the beginning of everything. I came from the Alps, I had always worked at night. I made a haystack for my horse, I also made a roof, and when we came from riding a motorcycle we had a beer as if it were a bar . Many bikers began to come and we created the association, which was already a little more serious.
But at first yes, coil of cable, two sofas from the garbage and a radio with Radio 3, who played good music until 1 or 2 in the morning. Three bottles, ten glasses and a case of beer.
Joe Strummer, singer of The Clash, fell in love with the area and the place, so much so that he came to celebrate his birthday there, how were they?
All his birthdays were celebrated at Jo's Bar. First he was a client, with the whole gang of the Clash, and then a friend . He was always here, he loved the bar, he always said (puts on an English accent): “it is the best bar in the world” (laughs). He was the one who baptized the house shot, the "toxic" . Since 2002 (year he passed away) we always have a party on August 21st (date of birth) to remember this good friend.
You have always liked word of mouth to promote the bar, without giving indications of where it is, right?
That's how it is. This is the first year we have done a facebook page , because we needed signatures, and Google has opened a page for us where the coordinates come (without asking), but I like that it is without advertising.
We have always worked on word of mouth and have never had a fight in 25 years. Let us continue, and long live rock & roll!