Ibiza
Ibiza, or Eivissa in Catalan, is an island of excess. Beautiful, and blessed with scores of stunning cove beaches, towering cliffs and dense pine forests. Salt attracted the Greeks, and after them the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, who made the Island a regular stop on their Mediterranean cruises – to such an extent that Ibiza has hundreds of Punic burial sites. Under Roman rule the island continued to prosper until dropping into the familiar pattern of Spanish history, occupied successively by Vandals and Moors before being liberated by the Catalans early in the thirteenth century. Thereafter decline set in and, despite occasional imperialist incursions, Ibiza was effectively an abandoned and impoverished backwater until the middle of the twentieth century, when it began to acquire status as the most chic of the Balearics.
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For years Ibiza was the European hippie escape, but nowadays it’s the extraordinary clubbing scene that most people come here to experience. Home to some of the most famous venues in Europe, the island can lay a strong claim to be the globe’s clubbing capital, with virtually all of the world’s top house DJs, and many more minor players, performing during the summer season. Visit the island between October and May, however, and you’ll find a very different and much more peaceful island – just one club (Pacha) and a few funky bars remain open through the winter months.
Ibiza Town, the capital, is the obvious place to base yourself: only a short bus ride from two great beaches – Ses Salines and Es Cavallet – and with many bars, restaurants and boutiques. Sant Antoni de Portmany, a large high-rise resort on the western coast, is far less cosmopolitan in character – largely catering to young British clubbers – but can almost match Ibiza Town in the hedonism stakes, its wide bay and “sunset strip” lined with groovy chill-out bars. North of Ibiza Town, Santa Eulària des Riu is the island’s only other real town – a rather mundane little place that’s popular with holidaying families, though it’s fairly featureless except for a pretty hilltop church. |
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Around the entire shoreline of the island, you’ll find dozens of exquisite cove beaches (calas), many all but deserted even in high season, though you’ll need your own transport to reach the best spots. Inland, the scenery is hilly and thickly wooded, dotted by a series of tiny hamlets; each boasting a stunning whitewashed village church, and an atmospheric local bar or two.
Formentera
Just eleven nautical miles south of Ibiza Town, Formentera with its population of only 6120 inhabitants is the smallest of the four main Balearic islands, measuring just 20km from east to west. Formentera’s history more or less parallels that of Ibiza, though for nearly three hundred years – from the early fifteenth century to the end of the seventeenth – it was left uninhabited for lack of water and fear of Turkish pirate raids. The island is still very arid, and mainly covered in rosemary, which grows wild everywhere; it also crawls with thousands of brilliant-green Ibiza wall lizards, which flourish in parched scrubland. Modern income is derived from tourism (especially German, Italian and British), taking advantage of some of Spain’s longest, whitest and least-crowded beaches. The shortage of fresh water keeps development within acceptable limits – there are only around forty hostales and hotels on the whole island – and for the most part visitors come here seeking escape for a day or two.
