San José is charming in a simplistic Ibicencan way and it's charming because we Northern Europeans, who have made it our home, have adapted to its ways and not imposed our own style of life upon it.
Behind the church which dominates the village, hidden in a tiny alcove, can be found the Can Manyanet restaurant where typical Ibicencan food can be enjoyed, such as Sofrit Pages - casseroled lamb, chicken, potatoes, and saffron, whilst gazing at the flowers and blossom in the garden.
Across the main road, El Destino provides tapas with a twist, a more sophisticated fusion of traditional Spanish pulses, vegetables, and meats with elements of spices and flavours from the Pacific rim, yet still manages to retain a homely Ibicencan atmosphere.
In the Bar Bernat Vinya (which has tables in the shady arbor opposite) old men gather to while away the time playing cards and discuss hunting game with the Ibicencan hound, the Podenco, whose pictures cover the walls.
It's got entertainment. Sit in the cool summer garden of Es Raco Verd and listen to Jazz and Blues and hear the pleasant hum of conversations in different languages and accents. Sip something intoxicating and be intoxicated by the atmosphere and the millions of stars twinkling in the clear night sky.
Gaze at the pools of light from porch lamps illuminating villas in the surrounding night-black hills. Or go to the open-air 'cinema' which makes an appearance every summer and split your sides laughing at Laurel and Hardy's international comedic capers or other films which transcend national boundaries. And in winter the fun doesn't stop just because the tourists have gone. The garden bar moves into the cosy pottery & souvenir shop next door (they move the pottery etc. somewhere else!) and in the garden braziers burn for warmth on chilly December nights when local musicians perform.
And why does my wife love it? Because it's got shops. You can buy everything here from a beach mat or a traditional basket to a designer bathroom suite, from traditional pottery and antique farm implements to trendy children's toys, and from local bread and produce to buying the farm itself ! And every shop is conveniently placed close to a stressed out husbands' watering hole. I love the San José 'shopping experience'.
It's small but perfectly formed. There is nothing spectacular about San José, other than the views of three sides of the island, but everything about it fits perfectly into place like a jigsaw. Coach tours rarely stay longer than an hour - if it's five o'clock it must be San José - a quick look in the church, which has been completed since 1731, the year not the time, and then over the road, quick march, quick march, here's an art gallery, here's a pottery shop, and this is a pomegranate tree. 'We eat them you know.' Next stop, Las Salinas. Blink and they're gone.
Take some time and discover the beauty of a slow pace of life. Discover shops that become bars, bars which are galleries, and bars which are shops. Lounge in the Fashion café with an early morning fruit juice and a newspaper or muse over German designer gear.
Watch the boys and girls from the ancient Ibicencan crafts school chipping at rocks for building dry stone walls in much the same way as it was done a thousand years ago - in the shade of an olive tree with 8 concrete blocks and an old Renault 4 tyre. Occupy a bench by a palm tree and just watch the tiny world go by. Aaahhhh.
If there is a rat race in San José it is surely slow and always takes a siesta! Visit it, or better still, stay in it. It's a great base for a holiday.
