Formentera fun facts

An island without an airport

Formentera has no airport: you always arrive by boat. The Consell says this isolation partly explains how well preserved and peaceful the island is (formentera.es).

The Balearics’ closest point to Africa

Es Cap de Barbaria is, in the Consell’s words, the southernmost rocky outcrop of the island and of the Balearic Islands as a whole, the geographical point closest to the coast of Africa. Its lighthouse appears in Julio Medem’s film “Lucía y el sexo” (formentera.es).

Jules Verne’s lighthouse

Beside the Far de la Mola stands a monument to Jules Verne, for the mention he makes of it in “Hector Servadac” (formentera.es).

A tomb like a clock

The megalithic tomb of Ca na Costa, from around 2000 BC, was discovered in 1974 and proved that Formentera was inhabited in the Bronze Age. Its rings of stones give it the look of a star; on the island it is called Es Rellotge, “the clock” (formentera.es).

A church against pirates

The church of Sant Francesc, blessed in 1738, was built for defence against pirate attacks: it keeps its iron-clad door with a loophole and a barrel vault designed to withstand artillery (formentera.es).

Handmade on the island

The La Mola craft market was born in 1984 and keeps one essential rule: everything sold there is handmade in Formentera (formentera.es).

A World Heritage meadow

The Posidonia seagrass meadows of the Ses Salines natural park are part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, declared in 1999; about 210 species of birds have been recorded in the park (caib.es).

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