Formentera Resorts: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I can’t actually write an article on Formentera resorts, because there is only one – Es Pujols. With the island stretching just 19 kilometers across, it is too small to support the resort development that has turned Mallorca into a massive hotel, and Es Pujols is the only area that one could really refer to as a resort. Formentera is an island of stunning natural beauty, but certainly not home to resort tourism.

Formentera is the smallest of the four islands that make up Spain’s Balearic Islands autonomous community (Mallorca/Majorca, Menorca/Minorca, Eivissa/Ibiza and Formentera). It is also part of the the Illes Pitiuses group (the Pine Islands), which is the western Balearic archipelago that is made up of Ibiza and Formentera.

The island is just 84 square kilometers squared (32 square miles), and sitting four kilometers (two and a half miles) south of the port of La Savina is Es Pujols. Although the area was the first to rapidly build up as tourism emerged in the 1970s it was never overbuilt due to a restriction on the height of new buildings. If you want to go to a nightclub, and party then this is pretty much the only place on the island you can do so. Whilst there are other main villages (Sant Francesc Xavier, Sant Ferran de ses Roques, El Pilar de la Mola and La Savina) any Formentera guide will tell you that none of them get quite as lively as Es Pujols.

In addition to the highest density of hotels, bars and restaurants, Es Pujols has some of the bluest beaches, and great strips of white sand. In fact some holidaymakers become so charmed with what it has to offer that they never set foot on the other parts of the island (this is a serious mistake!) The town has a high street (Passeig des Plameres) which is made up of bars and restaurants, as is the strip of shops behind the beaches (Aveinda Miramar). As you move out further from the coastline you can even find vineyards, but it is not an area known for especially fine wines.

Some of the hotels in the Es Pujols resort area are: Hostal Lago Playa, Hostal Voramar Apartamentos Impala, Apartamentos Mirada II, Apts. Jaume Sala, H. Sa Volta and Estudios Casa Norita. None of these are what one could consider luxury hotels, but that is typical of the island. Since people spend most of their time outside engaged in watersports, hiking and cycling they get by with the basic accommodation that dominates the island’s stock.

Outside of the Es Pujols there are a few areas knocking on the door of being classified as resorts: Cala Saona, Platja de Migjorn and Calo de Sant Agusti. However, these are very low-density areas, and just reinforce Formentera’s main charm – it’s unspoilt natural beauty.