Andrés came to Ibiza by a completely different road. Originally from Jerez, he followed the path his family expected, earning a law degree before spending years inside Spain’s public administration in Madrid, eventually rising to director general of a specialised regional body. “When you work in the public sector, you understand that decisions have consequences on many people,” he says, a lesson that shapes how he runs the group today. He later moved into communications and advertising, mastering how to convert an idea into a brand without losing authenticity. None of it looked like hospitality, yet all of it was exactly the training he needed.

What makes this partnership work isn’t shared experience, it’s a shared curiosity – about themselves, the world and the people around them. “We came together because we deeply trusted the way the other thought,” says Miguel. “Before there was a business there was mutual admiration and mutual respect. We spent hours talking about life and the universe before there was ever a business plan.” Neither man credits a founding moment. “There was never a day we sat down and said: ‘Let’s start a company together’,” says Andrés. “What happened was something far more important: Ibiza allowed us to discover ourselves, and time did the rest.”

That same curiosity extends to the people they’ve chosen to build a life alongside and how they spend their time together and apart. “Separating work from life has never been easy for us,” says Miguel. “Many of our best moments and ideas have come from sharing a meal, going for a walk or travelling. In that sense, work is part of how we live, but we still enjoy the islands the way we did at the start: getting out on the water, walking, finding a quiet spot or spending time with family and friends.” Both have found love and within it a deep appreciation for their good fortune. “We’re both immensely lucky to have wonderful women by our side,” says Andrés. “There would be no Miguel without Ana, and no Andrés without Lourdes – they’re true guiding lights in our lives, personal and professional alike.” It’s a significant admission that proves something larger: for two men who’ve built a successful brand in a tough business, the aim was never the scale, but the people.

More than a decade on, Andrés and Miguel remain, above all, friends. “We’ve spent many years making decisions together,” says Miguel. “We’ve learned we don’t always need to think the same way. What matters is sharing the same values. We’ve argued about plenty of ideas, but we’ve never argued about purpose, and I think that’s been our greatest strength.” What holds it together is the same instinct that put them on those rocks in 2014: build what you’d want for yourself. What they wanted was always to vivir descalzo – to live barefoot. It’s still, they say, the only plan they ever really had. “What we value most isn’t the restaurants we’ve opened – it’s still wanting to sit down and talk,” concludes Andrés. “As long as that conversation stays as exciting as it was on day one, we’ll feel like we’re doing things right.”