09 Apr Es Torrent’s 40th birthday!

In two weeks, on Friday, April 24, the 2026 season will officially begin in Es Torrent. It is a very special year because we celebrate, nothing more and nothing less, than 40 years of existence!

We opened our doors in the summer of 1986, on what was then a completely isolated and unknown shore, both for tourists and for a good part of the residents, with the exception of the four fishermen in the area who already knew this ignored corner. Before starting Es Torrent, Xico Sala, the promoter of the restaurant, had worked for years in the Balneario restaurant in Cala Carbó, where he learned everything necessary about the operation of a hotel establishment dedicated to seafood cuisine and also to offer tranquility and a welcoming atmosphere to its customers. There he also made friends with many of them, who already then pursued authentic places without stress.

After opening his first business in the town of Sant Josep, he began to miss working by the sea. One day, by chance, he heard about a lonely and abrupt place called Es Torrent. Not knowing it, he wanted to go and see it and, as soon as he was here, surrounded by cliffs and with that sea of islets on the horizon, he knew that it was the right space to start a new adventure that would end up changing his life.

As unusual as it may seem today, in such an inhospitable enclave, which even lacked a decent road to reach it, there was the possibility of accessing a hammock concession and, in the cove next door, sa Caixota, a kiosk could even be installed on the shore, which until now no one had claimed. Xico asked the City Council to transfer this concession to Es Torrent and this is how the history of our restaurant begins.

At the time, the staff consisted of three people: a cook, a waiter behind the bar and Xico, who served the dozen tables on the terrace. Back then they were much closer to the water, in the current spa area. The menu was sung from memory and consisted of baked fish, rice and some meats, the simple cuisine that allowed an infrastructure as limited as that of the time. The product and the natural and intense flavours prevailed, as now, but with less variety.

At the end of the season, according to the Coastal Law, the installation had to be completely dismantled, leaving no trace of it, and so the first years passed. One of the great challenges of that time was to obtain fresh fish and Xico had no alternative but to show up at the new market in the capital, at six in the morning, to be the first to arrive and ‘hunt’ the best specimens, since the fishmongers tended to reserve the most interesting genre for veteran restaurateurs.

Eight years after the adventure began, he was finally able to build the current restaurant on land acquired by the beach. However, no one wanted to forget the old kiosk. The solution was to integrate the bar and the cold room inside the premises, where they still remain. It is our physical link to the past that we now celebrate.

From the initial three people, the restaurant has grown to more than twenty workers and every summer we produce between 12 and 14 tons of fish, which are enjoyed by more than 25,000 customers. In this time we have evolved and grown, and we have also faced moments as hard as the flood of August 2017, which destroyed part of our facilities. Even so, we have always tried our best to preserve the chiringuito soul of those early years, a peaceful place to enjoy the other side of Ibiza.

The evolution has been extraordinary and we could never imagine it when we started with that second-hand wooden kiosk, which we set up in ’86. Everything we have experienced pushes us to thank our customers for their trust after so many years and all the staff, our professional family, who have contributed to our staying here today, with an iron health. See you in a few days!