Address: Madrid, Spain Capacity: 5000 Web: grupo-kapital.com/fabrik
Londoners are apt to bang on about their own material monikered nightclub, but you’ve not experienced the sheer scale of afternoon-to-evening warehouse-styled clubbing until you’ve hit the arid outskirts of Madrid and thrown a K into the mix. It’s not just the aircraft hangar dimensions of the main room, which sports carefully choreographed stage shows, matched to the visuals and flyers, around the DJs, drawn from the cream of global house and techno acts, with everyone from Plastikman to Fatboy Slim having looked down on the distant crowd, or the giant engulfing ice cannons and lasers. It’s the scale of the entire club, which takes advantage of its site in an industrial estate on the city’s outskirts. With a second room equal to the capacity of most other clubs, a third room in a kind of rave greenhouse and VIPs on a double decker bus in the sprawling outside area, which also sports shaded beds, a water slide and ducks (yep, ducks), there’s plenty for spangled party-goers to explore. You can even visit the shop to purchase a branded towel to dry off if the heat gets too much, or grab yourself a pizza from one of the multiple food outlets. And with brands such as Supermartxe, CODE, Vertigo and the Sunday-to-Monday carnival of Goa all in residence, there’s no excuse not to make a day and night of Fabrik.

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Address: Camboriu, Brazil Capacity: 8000 Web: greenvalley.art.br
Sat on the jungle mantle of Camboriu – Brazil’s newfound answer to Ibiza, already home to Warung, with Space to follow soon – Green Valley arrived five years ago to stamp its authority on an up-and-coming Brazilian club circuit. And this year, its hard work has been rewarded with penultimate placement at the top of this poll, the highest achievement of all the Americas.

For the uninitiated, the reasons for this club’s unbridled success may be a mystery, but those who have been understand exactly why. Rigged with a lunar launch-pad of show-stopping lights, stunning LED visuals and paraffin-fuelled pyrotechnics, there is nothing understated about this giant colosseum buried in the middle of the rainforest. Then there’s the stature of the DJs that play here, week in, week out: only the most immense names in the business make the cut.

Cited by both Armin and Axwell as “the best club in the world”, it’s rightfully got the industry vote, but a DJ’s enjoyment wouldn’t matter one iota if it wasn’t for the people they play to. Green Valley’s emphatic and infectious 8,000-strong-crowd, made up of immaculately-dressed Brazilians ready to party until past sunrise, offers the stuff of memories that DJs will carry for a lifetime.

“I’ve been a few places, but there is no place like Green Valley, not even one!” Axwell confirms. Indeed, it’ll take a heck of a lot to beat it.

Address: Playa D’en Bossa, Ibiza Capacity: 3500 Web: Spaceibiza.com
They say excellence should be rewarded. Just as well, then, that Space Ibiza has been voted to the top of this poll for the second year in a row. And quite rightly, too.

Setting up on the The White Isle back in 1989, this clubbing metropolis has been here for the long-haul, soaking up all the Balearic magic of the world’s No.1 clubbing hotspot, not resting on its laurels once. Pushing forward, embracing cutting-edge technology, better sound quality and more extravagant forms of entertainment, this club is about delivering a heightened dancefloor experience to those with a discerning flavour for electronic music on the island.

From its high-powered Funktion One soundsystem to those exuberant displays of slinky, silver Lycra-clad dancers on stilts, Space presents a level of clubbing professionalism other nightclubs only dream of. Nitrogen lunar blasts, hi-res LED screens and retina-frying lasers across a series of rooms, each imbued with their own unique sense of identity, but slotted perfectly into the overall picture of this well-oiled clubbing complex.

The Terrace, a space-age cauldron swirling with woozy energy; the Discoteca, for those looking for an explosive big-room beyond any other; Sunset Terrace and its steamy terracotta haze, and La Salon and Red Box’s hidden back room intimacy. It’s got everything. Not forgetting, the enormous car park opened only for opening and closing, complete with confetti explosions on a stage armed with a stack of Funktion Ones powerful enough to bring down a fighter plane. The entire package is guaranteed exceptional, and, for some, the only reason to make a yearly trip to Ibiza.

The technicalities aside, the DJs that play, residents such as Carl Cox, Roger Sanchez, Nick Curly and James Zabiela, speak of something other than hard facts, something more universal; a feeling of inclusion, spiritual involvement with the family ethos of the club, something garnered by Pepe Rosello and his carefully-nurtured team, a vibe that transcends the staff and bleeds onto the dancefloor.

“I love to play at Space,” says Spanish house giant Uner. “First of all, because the crew is, for me, like a family. I always love the good vibes there. Space was my first gig. I’m in love with the club, the party and the people.”

These are the same sentiments shared by Carl Cox (see box out), who celebrated the 11th year of his Revolution party last season, and looks forward to another. It’s the considered, tightly programmed flagship nights like this that make Space so special. Something for absolutely everyone with an ear for a decent beat. Nick Curly’s Kehakuma, Armin’s Be and We Love, just a few nights that make Ibiza what she is – a bonafide haven for undisputed clubbing excellence. And Space Ibiza is where to find it. Every goddamn time.

CARL COX

“Space represents who I am and what I’m about. Space was the first and at the time, the only place where you could listen to dance music under the sun. It set the precedent for the after-hours club. Before that, people just expected a 2am kick out. Here, you went to the club at 7am! To be there now, giving something back, is really special to me.”

ROGER SANCHEZ

“Space has always been one of my favourite clubs in Ibiza, especially the Terrace. My nights and days in the booth have always been magic there! I love the underground vibe there and crowd is always amazing!”