The smallest and most secretive Balearic island — no airport, ferry-only access, Ses Illetes beaches with Caribbean clarity, posidonia seagrass beds protected by UNESCO, and the island that Ibiza's crowd discovered and then ruined (but only slightly)
Formentera is the smallest of the Balearic Islands (83 sq km, permanent population 12,000 — Spain's least populous municipality), lying 4km south of Ibiza and accessible only by ferry from Ibiza Town (25-40 minutes by fast ferry, 1 hour by slower ferry). The island has no airport and explicitly no plans to build one — the lack of direct air access is the primary mechanism by which the island has maintained a character distinct from the mass-market resort development of Ibiza, Mallorca, and Menorca. Ses Illetes beach (on the La Mola peninsula's northwestern arm, 5km north of the ferry port at…
Formentera (the name from the Latin Frumentaria — 'wheat island') was a Roman grain-producing colony, then a Byzantine possession, then conquered by the Moors in 902 CE. The island was effectively uninhabited for nearly 300 years (1348-1640) after repeated Berber pirate raids depopulated it; the 16th-century watchtower system (built by the Crown of Aragon) was an attempt to make resettlement possible by providing early warning of pirate approaches. The 17th-century resettlement (from Ibiza primarily) established the current village structure of Sant Francesc Xavier (the main town) and Sant Fe…