Recently, my wife and I spent a few days in the resort island of Ibiza in Spain. Needless to say it was a very nice time. Among the activities we engaged in was visiting the old town with a guide who explained the rich history of the island (yes, Ibiza did not just pop out of the sea in the 1960s to cater to wealthy partiers).
The history is that around 650BC, the phoenicians, who were skilled seafarers and traders, and originated from what is Lebanon today, settled the island. They found the logistical situation of the island and its mild climate made the place a valuable location to manage their trading routes in the mediterranean.
The current name, Ibiza, is the result of many evolutions over the 2700 years, through conquests, from the original name given by the Phoenicians, Ibossim, through those given by other conquerors (Greeks, Romans, Arabs, etc) which brought it to Eivissa in the 16th century and eventually to Ibiza.
The story is that the original name given by the Phoenicians, Ibossim, was in honor of their god Bes, who was considered to be the protector of households from harm, in particular from snakes, that apparently were among the leading causes of death in those days in the Middle and Near East.
The legend also has it that the Phoenicians named it such because when they arrived, they did not find any dangerous animals, in particular any snakes. They discovered innocent little lizards, the Ibiza wall lizards, which are harmless.
In the midst of the invasions, conquests and changing hands, the island remained free of snakes with the lizards co-existing nicely with humans. That is until late 20th century when the growth of leisure industry in the island promoted import of olive trees for landscaping and olive oil production, and wood (exotic and standard construction) for building homes and mansions.
Then Ibiza saw the arrival of snakes, not venomous though, which started proliferating from the early 2000s and started eating the lizards. The conjecture is that the imported trees and wood carried snake eggs which then hatched and given the available lizard population, the snake population expanded.
So, for 2700 years we managed to keep the island clean of snakes, but then in a mere 20 or 30 years our drive to seek pleasure and greed to have it all, just brought about a ‘snakey’ life on the island.
Paris, October 30, 2025
Zeejay