With his Harley Davidson, an imposing Hummer from which he has recently removed the diplomatic plates he sported, a villa in Sant Josep, Rolls Roce business cards and golden plaques proclaiming non-existent positions, Youcef Aden has managed to impress those who know him. Behind the glitz and fancy titles lies an extravagant life that includes running private clubs in London and Barcelona and now Ibiza, art galleries, a cryptocurrency bank and a past in the Hollywood film industry. In view of the neat imagination and diplomatic humbug, all with all reservations. His name is actually Mohamed Youcef Ihaddaden, born in France in 1964. He has been walking the streets of Ibiza for three to four years, taking advantage of his “diplomatic” status. Ambassador, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Treasury of the Nation of Hawaii is the title he claims to hold in his public profiles on social networks and what can be seen at a glance on the plaques of an office he has rented on the sixth floor of the vertical parking lot of Carlos III Street in Ibiza. A nonsense no matter how you look at it, since Hawaii is not an independent state but has been part of the United States since 1959. Obviously, on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Spain there is no trace of the alleged delegation in Ibiza of one of its member states. Neither in the official websites of the Secretary of State, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country, nor in that of the government of the State of Hawaii. Police sources have assured La Voz de Ibiza that they are unaware of the existence of this character whose activity and motivations are, to say the least, not at all clear.
Companies
According to La Voz de Ibiza La Voz de IbizaYoucef Aden is the sole administrator of the limited company Sovereign Territory of Hawaii, set up at the end of 2019 and headquartered in Santa Eulària des Riu. The records include other companies he owned in Barcelona, such as Orratum Capital (2017) and Kapital Trading Desk (2019), with the latter having an apparent connection to another of the plaques he displays with the title “Kapital Bank – United Nations (United Nations)”.
Those who have met Youcef Aden are divided between astonishment and disbelief. Of exquisite and polite treatment, different sources that this media has been able to consult have confirmed that he presents himself publicly and openly as a diplomat in spite of the crude invention he has created, and that he has even used this condition to try to gain access to clubs in Ibiza by showing a diplomatic badge, obviously false.
He lives on the island with his wife and son, whom he is trying to promote as a DJ. This newspaper has contacted the fake diplomat. He has had no response. At the Hawaii embassy no one answered the door on Friday morning.
A Hollywood past
In numerous reports that have been made about his entrepreneurial career, Youcef Aden has said that in his beginnings he was a fashion designer and that at the age of 19 he traveled to Los Angeles, United States, where he had a golden opportunity in the Hollywood film industry. There he rubbed shoulders with celebrities, and among his work milestones he mentions having worked with the Jackson 5, Elton John, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, among other big names. In a 2019 interview for the Red Ivory blog, he has stated that his experience extends to the areas of audiovisual production, sales, marketing, advertising and content development for all platforms.
Protagonist in the nightlife
Youcef Aden is best known for running the exclusive Victory members’ club in London in 2009, described in a blog at the time for its “movie set” décor and noted for its premium drink offerings, with a bottle of vodka costing as much as £2,000. The place aimed to bring together artists, writers, poets and film people in a luxurious and highly exclusive setting to “exchange ideas, experiences, and learn from each other”. According to records, in England he also set up the companies Crypto Bank LTD and Bitcoin Banque LTD, both in 2019. The success and renown that brought him the Victory club led him to set up in 2022 one of the same characteristics in Barcelona, under the name of Hedges Club, located in Balmes street, 220. Before its opening, the place had 250 members, mostly coming from the business, managerial and creative fields. The premises had (no longer exists) three rooms: Regent (business), Burlington (relaxation) and the Carnaby Bar, in addition to the Hedges Tea Club, a gastronomic space that was also open to “normal” people. It seems that part of the decoration of that business venture was used by Youcef Aden in his apartment in Barcelona (at least the coquettish blue armchair with gold details).
Youcef Aden’s latest venture can be traced back to last year in Ibiza, when he opened his most ambitious project (or actually three projects): the Youcef Aden Galleries, the private club You and Love Ibiza, a space for “local talents”. According to people familiar with the place, it is a space halfway between an art gallery and a nightclub, which can only be accessed by invitation, with parties that last until the next day, with expensive collector’s bottles of all kinds of alcoholic beverages. It is located on the first floor of Josep María Quadrado street in Ibiza.
“Our YOU club is designed to be a place where members can admire the exhibitions, meet, relax and enjoy a delicious cocktail, a caviar tasting or simply network, while enjoying the beauty of art. And everything is for sale there, you can book a table at YOU for a few cocktails or some delicatessen dishes and at the end of the evening take home a painting, a table, or an armchair that you found attractive,” said the 60-year-old according to the Genexigente.com portal.
