Ritzi turns 20: A Harbour Evening of Champagne, Sea Air and Old Friends

Twenty Years of Ritzi — an Evening Only Puerto Portals Can Deliver

Puerto Portals breathes for nights like this: warm air, the distant clapping of sail ropes and the constant murmur of the marina. The terrace of the Ritzi Bar filled slowly on its anniversary evening, then suddenly as if pushed by an invisible hand. Sparkling champagne, small eruptions in a VIP box and people finding each other again in familiar groups — that was how the evening began, which already felt like a piece of island history.

The hosts: seasoned, charming, genuine

Owner Andi Baader and general manager Franziska Gebert kept the calm one expects from hosts who know how to run an evening. Andi said quietly between two greetings, "We wanted to say thank you." Franziska took the glasses, gathered them close and, with a wink, made sure nobody fell asleep on the way home: "We'll even see guests into a taxi," she laughed. The team worked like an orchestra — unshowy, but precise.

Familiar faces, understated grace

Among the guests mixed people you see here more often than in your own neighbourhood. Marcel Remus was there, actor John Friedmann made an exception to his usual routine — and former racing driver Christian Abt appeared as part of a newly announced scene couple. Yet despite the well-known names much remained discreet. "What happens at Ritzi, stays at Ritzi" is not a phrase here, it's lived — people's privacy is respected, and that is part of the recipe for success.

Music, dancing and small everyday impressions

The music was just right: danceable, not so loud that you had to shout, but loud enough to get up. Among balloons and cake pops, dance partners were found, champagne shimmered in hands, sangria dripped quietly from fingertips. In the boxes people handled magnum bottles, the short fireworks threw golden sparks onto the water surface of the harbour. In one corner two older guests laughed so quietly that it almost sounded like a conversation of seagulls — familiar and cosy.

Small stories that create the mood

Around the bar scenes unfolded that made the evening human: a man who had recently lost a watch turned up without wrist jewellery but with the widest grin; a gallerist who proclaimed herself "once again the party animal"; a cosmetic surgeon who preferred to remain anonymous but shone with wit and conversational flair. Such small, almost everyday moments connect — and that's what sets Ritzi apart.

Why Ritzi still fits after 20 years

Puerto Portals has this special kind of luxury: it doesn't want to show off, it wants to flatter. Ritzi fits perfectly into that niche. You dress chic, but not in costume. The bar is a meeting place for people who know the island and for those who want to belong. Two decades mean: shared nights, recurring stories, regulars who stay. And that is no given on an island with changing tourist flows.

Looking ahead — a place that connects

Around four in the morning the celebration slowly dissolved into small groups. Young faces, tired and euphoric at once, strolled past the boats. The staff served the last drink with routine. The harbour didn't really sleep, it only glittered more quietly. Whether you like Ritzi or not — on nights like this it becomes clear: the bar belongs to Puerto Portals like buoys belong to the pier. It is a place to celebrate successes, to nurture old friendships and occasionally to be seen. And that is, in the middle of a Mallorcan night, a good feeling.