Touch, and why we call it that
Massage is the oldest and least complicated form of care we offer, and the category most people book first. We call it Touch because the range runs well beyond muscle work: manual lymphatic drainage, reflexology, facial sculpting and osteopathic treatment all belong here, and they have very little in common except a pair of trained hands and a table.
Everything in this category comes to you. A therapist arrives at your villa, hotel suite, finca or yacht with a professional table, fresh linens, oils and music, sets up in the room or shaded terrace you choose, and leaves the space as they found it. There is no spa to drive to and no relaxation lounge to sit in afterwards, which is very much the point.
How to choose the right treatment
If you are not sure what to book, start from what your body is actually doing. For chronic tightness that keeps returning, and for anyone who finds most massages too gentle, book Deep Tissue Massage. For a complete, moderate-pressure treatment that suits almost everybody and is the right first massage, book Swedish Massage. If you are simply depleted and want to sleep properly, Relaxation Massage is slower and more sedative again.
For training-related tension, or timed around an event, ride or race, book Sports Massage. For a mechanical problem that keeps coming back and needs assessment rather than more pressure, book Osteopathy.
Where the complaint is fluid rather than muscle — swollen ankles after flying, heaviness in the legs in August, recovery after a procedure — Lymphatic Drainage is the specialist treatment. For puffiness and jaw tension in the face, Facial Massage. If you would rather stay clothed and have only your feet worked, Reflexology is deeply restful and needs almost no setup.
During pregnancy, from the second trimester, book Pre-Natal Massage with a therapist trained for it rather than adapting a standard treatment. To be treated alongside a partner or friend at the same time, in the same room, with different pressure and different styles, book Couples Massage. We also offer Sensual Massage as a distinct body-awareness treatment.
A short history of massage
Massage is documented in every major early civilisation. The Chinese medical text known as the Huangdi Neijing describes manual therapy more than two thousand years ago; Ayurvedic abhyanga appears in Sanskrit texts of similar age; Egyptian tomb paintings show foot and hand treatment around 2300 BCE; and Hippocrates wrote in the fifth century BCE that the physician must be experienced in rubbing.
The European technical vocabulary is much more recent. Per Henrik Ling's Swedish system of the early nineteenth century and Johan Georg Mezger's later codification of the classical strokes gave massage the anatomical language that let it enter hospitals and medical training.
The twentieth century then split it in two directions at once. One branch went clinical, through Emil Vodder's lymphatic drainage, Ida Rolf's fascial work, Janet Travell's trigger point research and the sports medicine of the 1970s onwards. The other went hospitality, through the spa industry that made massage a normal part of travel. Everything on this menu descends from one branch or the other.
How it works in Ibiza
Ibiza has an unusually deep therapist community for an island of 570 square kilometres, drawn by a long season and a client base that treats bodywork as routine rather than occasional. It also has a wide spread of standards, which is why every practitioner we work with is qualified, insured, identity-checked and met in person before taking a single booking.
We cover the whole island and Formentera, and travel is included. Most guests book for the early evening, which is the busiest window in July and August and the first to fill. Treatments happen indoors or on a shaded terrace; we avoid midday sun and windy positions because a cold body does not release.
Who books this category
Villa groups and families account for most of it, usually with several treatments run back to back over an afternoon. Couples on short breaks book it as the one restorative thing in a week of boats and dinners. Athletes and cycling camps book sports and deep tissue work through the spring. Yacht guests and crew book it at anchor.
Beyond that it is booked by people arriving off long flights, by anyone who has had three late nights in a row, by pregnant guests, and by clients who simply have a standing weekly massage at home and see no reason to stop because they are away.
Booking, pricing and how we match you
Treatments in this category start from €175 for sixty minutes, with couples treatments from €345 for two. You choose a date and a preferred start time, we match you with a therapist by pressure, language and personality rather than by whoever happens to be free, and your card is held but never charged until a practitioner confirms. You can state a preference for a male or female therapist at any time.
For a wider programme across your stay, see Movement and Holistic.