Erick Morillo: The view from the decks

It's bizarre and hypocritical for the government to try to force the clubbers out of Ibiza. It's going to backfire on them if they don't stop.

The partying and the clubbing have put the island on the map as a world-class destination. People think that TV show 'Ibiza Uncovered' is what it's like, but that show was the really bad side of Ibiza, and it should have been left in the dark.

Ibiza is really nothing like that. I remember when I first went to Ibiza, to play a night at Space in 1993. It was unbelievable. Dance music was everywhere. Playing in a club that started at seven in the morning, and it was still party central, was unreal to me. I decided I really wanted to come there again and again and I started playing at all the different clubs. About eight years ago I started doing my own night at Pacha on Wednesdays. In all that time I've never seen a fight on the dancefloor, not once. Dance music is not really about that. It's about going out with your mates and having a few drinks and picking up girls. It's about having fun.

Not everyone goes to Ibiza with the intention of getting completely mangled. There are plenty of people who rent a house, or a yacht. Maybe they go out once or twice; some of them don't even go out at all. They just want to be where the in-place is.

And outside of San Antonio is different again. I know that side of it now, and I've come to love it even more. It's much more than a great place to go and party.

Maybe there is some room for improvement, image-wise. But drink and drugs are a problem around the world. And OK, some people get out of hand, but people don't fight in Ibiza. Instead of demonising the clubbers who have made it what it is, you can work with the clubbing associations to take Ibiza to the next stage, keeping it affordable for people who can't go to five-star hotels but still having an influx of top-level resorts.

The key is to find a balance between the two, not to try to snuff out clubbing. Ibiza has a history of clubbing that extends back to the 1950s, and to try to cut that out is wrong. What are they going to turn it into? Mallorca? San Tropez? People already have that. Why do it in Ibiza? Ibiza's unique. I understand you have to try to develop, to try to grow, but if you go overboard you'll lose that unique flavour that makes Ibiza what it is.

Erick Morillo plays at Pacha, Ibiza, every Wednesday from June to September. He has won 'DJ' magazine awards for Best Ibiza Party, Best International Club Night, Best International DJ and Best House DJ