Formentera Travel Guide

Just eleven nautical miles south of Ibiza Town, FORMENTERA (population 5600) is the smallest of the inhabited Balearics. It's actually two small islets joined together by a narrow sandy isthmus and is just 20km long from east to west. It's a short ferry crossing from Ibiza, but strong currents ensure that it's slow - around an hour - and can be rough. Return fares are about €14; €23 on the hydrofoil, which is quicker (35 min) but less enjoyable. There are usually rival sailings to choose from: check the return times before deciding.

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. Under the Romans it had been an agricultural centre (some historians think its name could derive from frumentaria , "granary"), and when repopulated in 1697 the island was again divided up for cultivation. It never regained its original level of productivity, however, and nowadays is largely barren, the few crops having to be protected, as on Menorca, against the lashing of winter winds. Indeed, most of the island is now covered in rosemary, growing wild everywhere, and crawling with thousands of brilliant green lizards - the Ibiza wall lizard ( Podarcis pityusensis ) which flourishes in arid 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 freshwater continues to keep development within acceptable limits - there are only around forty hostales and hotels on the whole island - and for the most part visitors here are seeking escape with little in the way of sophistication. Nevertheless, Formentera has become increasingly popular with day-trippers from neighbouring Ibiza, and is certainly not the "unspoilt paradise" it once was, especially in high season. Nude sunbathing is tolerated - indeed the norm - just about everywhere.