Formentera

Formentera municipality
Sant Francesc Church
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Balearic Islands
Island:	Formentera
Coordinates	38 ° 42 ′  N , 1 ° 28 ′  E Coordinates: 38 ° 42 ′  N , 1 ° 28 ′  E
Area :	82.49 km²
Residents :	12,111 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density :	146.82 inh / km²
Municipality number  ( INE ):	07024
Location of the municipality

Satellite image of Ibiza (above) and Formentera (below)

Formentera [ fuɾmənˈteɾə ] is the second smallest inhabited island of the Spanish Autonomous Region of the Balearic Islands and a municipality. Together with Ibiza and some smaller islands, it forms the Pityusen archipelago .

Formentera is about 9 kilometers south of Ibiza and is 19 kilometers long. The island has an area of ​​82 km². The main town on the island is Sant Francesc de Formentera .

Formentera has a coastline of around 70 kilometers in length. The highest point (la Talaiassa La Mola) is at an altitude of 192  msnm . The climate is mild with an average temperature of 16.6 ° C. The vegetation is typically Mediterranean and, if not used for agriculture, consists of forests of pine and sedge .

geography

Outline of the island

The island essentially consists of four parts:

north

The north is the most densely populated part of the island and includes the localities of La Savina , Es Pujols , Sant Ferran de ses Roques , Es Caló and Sant Francesc de Formentera :

• La Savina is the island's main port. The ferries to and from Ibiza Town also dock here .
• Es Pujols is the only mainly touristic place on the island with hotel and apartment blocks, restaurants, cafes, shops and discos.
• The two inland lakes Estany des Peix and Estany Pudent with salt pans (Ses Salines) extend between La Savina and Es Pujols .
• Sant Francesc Xavier is located south of Es Pujols in the interior of the island and is the largest town on the island and the administrative center.
• To the north-west of Es Pujols there is an increasingly narrow, uninhabited and thin headland, which is surrounded by light sandy beaches, the most famous of which is the Platja de Ses Illetes . The beauty of this beach attracts many boat vacationers from Ibiza every day to anchor in the summer season.

south

To the south, the area is increasingly sparsely populated and reaches a height of 119 meters. At the southernmost end of the island, the Cap de Barbaria , there is a medieval watchtower almost a hundred meters above sea level. This part of the island is in the nature reserve, is more rural and has a rocky coast.

center

The central part of the island is about six kilometers long and only 1.5 kilometers wide. There are no historically grown places here, but with Platja de Mitjorn on the south side the longest beach on the island and a few larger holiday complexes.

east

To the east is the La Mola plateau , which can only be reached via a serpentine road or the old Roman road and is up to 192 meters above sea level. In the center of the plateau is El Pilar de la Mola . In the far east of the island there is a lighthouse on the almost 150 meter high cape "Punta de sa Ruda" , from which a far view to the east over the sea is possible. This part of the island, like the south, also consists of a rocky coast.

Community structure

The municipality of Formentera includes the main island of the same name and the smaller islands of Espalmador and Espardell to the north . It is divided into 9 districts:

Districts	Population (2008)	Settlements with population (2008)	Residents outside closed settlements (2008)
Sant Francesc de Formentera (Spanish: San Francisco )	2,656	Sant Francesc de Formentera (Spanish: San Francisco ) 1.091	1,565
Sant Ferran de ses Roques (Spanish: San Fernando )	2,414	Sant Ferran de ses Roques (Spanish: San Fernando ) 812	1,602
Es Cap de Barbaria	1,267	-	1,267
Es Pujols	746	Es Pujols 746	0
El Pilar de la Mola	670	El Pilar de la Mola 77	593
La Savina (Spanish La Sabina )	598	La Savina (Spanish La Sabina ) 598	0
Es Caló	435	Es Caló 52	383
Ses Bardetes	327	Ses bardetes 327	0
Ses Salines	34	-	34
local community	9,147	3,703	5,444

population

Residents

The municipality of Formentera has 12,280 inhabitants (2017) who live almost exclusively on the island of the same name. The seat of the municipal administration is Sant Francesc de Formentera with 1,091 inhabitants.

Tourism has led to a strong population growth since the 1970s . While there was no population growth in the previous decades (annual average 1930–1970: −0.2%), the number of inhabitants has more than tripled since 1970. Since the turn of the millennium, the number of inhabitants has increased particularly rapidly (annual average 2001–2008: 7.4%). The population growth was initially due to the influx of workers from mainland Spain and from the 1990s mainly due to the strong immigration of foreigners. As a result, the proportion of local residents has declined in recent decades. Today 39.6% of the inhabitants are native to the Balearic Islands and 27.0% from Formentera.

The population is 52.9% male and 47.1% female.

A resident of Formentera is called formenterer (a) or formenterenc (a) in Catalan and formenterense , ofiusino / a or formenterano / a in Spanish .

Development of the population:

Nationalities

The proportion of foreigners is very high at 30.9% (2008, only main residence) and is still increasing. In 1991 there were significantly fewer foreigners living on the island at 5.3%. Most of them are Union citizens (20.8%), most of them German (8%). The proportion of people born abroad is 32.8%.

origin	according to citizenship (2008)	according to country of birth (2008)
EU citizens	89.9%	86.5%
Spaniards	69.1%	67.2%
German	7.9%	8.1%
Italian	6.9%	5.4%
French people	2.0%	1.9%
Romanians	1.5%	1.5%
British	0.7%	0.8%
other Europeans	0.5%	0.8%
North and South Americans	6.6%	9.3%
Argentinians	2.8%	4.5%
Colombians	1.8%	1.8%
Brazilian	0.4%	0.5%
Uruguayan	0.3%	0.5%
African	2.9%	3.1%
Moroccan	2.4%	2.6%
Algerian	0.4%	0.5%
Asians	0.2%	0.3%

Development of the proportion of foreigners:

history

Formentera within the Balearic Islands

Formentera was already inhabited in prehistoric times. The oldest finds come from the Cova des Fum cave from the Copper Age (approx. 2000–1600 BC). The most important site, however, is the Ca na Costa dolmen . It is located between the S'Estany Pudent lake and the village of Es Pujols . Further megalithic systems are located at Cap de Barbaria .

There are no signs of a settlement network for the Phoenician and Punic times, which is all the more surprising since Ibiza was an important center in the western Mediterranean at that time .

In Roman times , Formentera had an extensive population, which is indicated by numerous finds. The castle ( Castellum de Can Blei ) near Es Caló dates from the late Roman period. The Romans called the island Frumentaria ("Wheat Island ") and used it as a granary because of the fertile soil and the abundance of fresh water at the time.

After the fall of the Roman Empire , the Vandals took control of all the Balearic Islands, then the Byzantine Empire . In the year 859 Formentera, like Mallorca and Menorca , was ravaged by vikings . Formentera has belonged to the Arab sphere of influence since the beginning of the 10th century.

In 1235, the Catalan King Jaume I (James I, the Conqueror) conquered Ibiza and Formentera. Formentera has had its Catalan identity ever since. As the springs dried up, agriculture continued to decline, and due to constant pirate attacks, the island was finally completely depopulated in the 16th century and only repopulated from Ibiza 200 years later.

Formentera today

View from La Mola to the west

The island was very popular with hippies who came over from Ibiza at the time in the 1960s and 1970s . Formentera is associated with Pink Floyd , King Crimson and Bob Dylan , among others . Chris Rea lived there too, and the music video for his track " On the Beach " was filmed here. Remnants of the hippie era are the restaurant and restaurant Fonda Pepe or the guitar making school "Formentera Guitars", as well as the craft market ("hippie market") on Wednesdays and Sundays in El Pilar de la Mola .

The writer Niklaus Schmid , who lives on the island , wrote a book about the times of the 1960s and 1970s: "Formentera - an island on the way to becoming a legend".

The film Lucía y el sexo by Spanish director Julio Médem was shot in part in Formentera in 2000. In the film, however, the name of the island is never mentioned, only 'The Island' is referred to. However, the lighthouse at Cap de Barbaria can already be seen in the background on the movie poster .

climate

Formentera has a temperate subtropical climate and is the warmest and driest island in the Balearic Islands with an average annual temperature of over 16.5 ° C and a total rainfall of 417 mm / year. In the north of the island, even less than 300 mm / year are often measured.

Formentera
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.     34   16 4th     37   16 4th     20th   18th 6th     35   20th 8th     30th   24 12     15th   28 16     10   31 18th     16   32 19th     56   28 17th     63   24 13     58   19th 8th     43   16 6th Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Formentera Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 15.5 15.9 18th 20.1 24.1 28.3 31.1 31.6 27.9 23.8 18.9 16.2 O 22.7 Min. Temperature (° C) 4th 4.2 5.5 7.6 11.6 15.7 18.3 19.3 16.6 13.2 8.4 5.6 O 10.9 Temperature (° C) 9.8 10.1 10.1 11.8 17.9 22nd 24.7 25.5 22.3 18.5 13.7 10.9 O 16.5 Precipitation ( mm ) 34 37 20th 35 30th 15th 10 16 56 63 58 43 Σ 417 Hours of sunshine ( h / d ) 5 6th 7th 7th 10 11 12 9 7th 7th 4th 5 O 7.5 Rainy days ( d ) 12 9 9 10 8th 5 3 4th 9 12 13 13 Σ 107 Humidity ( % ) 71 70 74 76 75 76 77 76 71 70 69 70 O 72.9 Source: missing

tourism

Platja des Trucadors

Since the 1980s, mass tourism has also set in here and Formentera has taken much of its original tranquility. Nevertheless, in contrast to other Balearic islands, the island was spared an often ruthless construction boom. To this day, most of the beaches have not been built up and the tourist infrastructure has been concentrated in Es Pujols and a few facilities on Platja de Mitjorn .

Due to the short distances, it is well suited for excursions by bike and Formentera's beaches, with their light sand and turquoise and crystal clear water, are among the most beautiful in the Mediterranean. The island is almost 100 percent fully booked in the main travel months of July and August, but the number of accommodations is limited. Despite mass tourism, Formentera has been able to retain a lot of flair and tranquility.

Agriculture

The wine-growing area on the island extends over 60 hectares and corresponds to around 12.5% ​​of the total agricultural area.

The first records of grape and wine cultivation can be found in the fiefdom charter (La carta de enfeudación de la isla de Formentera) from 1246, which document the cultivation when Guillermo de Montgrí and Berenguer Renard were commissioned to repopulate the island.

The traditionally grown grape variety is the Monastrell grape variety with a 44% share . Other grape varieties that are used to make the wine from the Formentera growing area: Red varieties: Fogoneu, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. White varieties: Malvasia, white Prensal, Chardonnay and Viognier. Since March 11, 1996, the controls for "wine from the Formentera growing area" have been under the responsibility of the Agriculture Administration (Conseller d'Agricultura) . The wine from the Formentera growing area is bottled and sold exclusively on site and bears an official control number that is assigned by the Directorate for Agriculture (Direcció General d'Agricultura) .

Every year the pagesos (farmers) of the island hold a competition for the best wine and represent and celebrate at the village festivals of Sant Francesc and Sant Ferran . Today, viticulture is one of the most important agricultural sectors in Formentera.

power supply

The island is supplied by the Central Térmica de Ibiza via 30 kV submarine cable and, since 2007, a 69 kV submarine cable has also connected Formentera with the power plant on Ibiza. There is also a 69 kV / 15 kV Ca Mari substation , which is located roughly in the middle of the island.

Ferry connections

After the expansion in 1984, the port of La Savina recorded a significant increase in sea traffic to more than 5,000 ships and around 450,000 passengers per year. The ferries to and from Ibiza town and connections from Denia (mainland) represent the island's only public connection to the outside world. Not least because of the somewhat inconvenient journey, tourism on Formentera is not as pronounced as on the other Balearic Islands . The crossing time from / to Ibiza Town is around 30 minutes.

See also

• Espalmador
• List of Catalan-Spanish place names in the Catalan-speaking area

Web links

Commons : Formentera  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• islabotanica.de - Mediterranean flora and fauna, all about orchid mapping on Formentera

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).
2. ^ ^{A b} Instituto Nacional de Estadística: List of place names
3. ^ Instituto Nacional de Estadística: Alterations to the municipalities in the Population Censuses since 1842
4. ^ Instituto Nacional de Estadística: Population by sex, municipalities and nationality
5. ^ Instituto Nacional de Estadística: Population by sex, municipalities and place of birth
6. ^ Prehistoric Remains on Formentera at www.formenteraweb.com, accessed on April 16, 2017
7. ↑ "Formentera en la historia de Roma" , Diario de Ibiza of January 29, 2020, accessed on the same day (Spanish)
8. ↑ Niklaus Schmid: Formentera - an island on the way to legend. Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1994, ISBN 3-404-69014-1 .
9. ↑ Resolución de 22 de October 2004, del Consell Insular; ANEXO I.