Ibiza's many landmark buildings; the cathedral, castle, the old Military Command, the dome at Privilege to name but a few, will soon be joined by another structure which like them all, will be seen from miles around. Yes, Ibiza town's big power station is to have another chimney and it will be exactly the same height - 60 metres - as the existing one and will also be equipped with the same flashing blue lights and hazy blue smoke!
Gesa, the power company here, reckon that with the increase in demand for electricity on the island, they're going to need another two big diesel generators at 18 megawatts each to assuage Ibiza's thirst for power.
The chimney will be up and flashing by early summer, just in time for when the diesel motors fire up for the first time in June and July. By then the power station will have the capacity to produce 270 megawatts of electricity, hopefully enough to keep us air conditioned through the sweltering summer, as last year a record demand of 198 megawatts was experienced in that period.