The historical past times of Formentera are, although not excessively wide, very interesting because there are not many places like this island, where a very enriching and abundant number of peoples dropped in.
Unfortunately, not many of the archaeological proofs have arrived till today, but those which have survived, are very well preserved. The arrival of different peoples at Formentera occurred in a more or less balanced way, apart from some exceptions that will be described below.
From the first inhabitants in Formentera we almost know nothing (just the contrary to what happens with the neighbouring Ibiza; we know that in the year 654 BC in the present-day Ibiza city, a Carthaginian factory was founded). In Formentera, the Carthaginian presence went almost unnoticed. But before the Carthaginian people, Formentera was settled by another people from which we know nothing, because the only remains we have found thereof are the megalithic tomb of Ca Na Costa (from around 2000 BC) and some other remains consisting in pieces of pottery of the same style to the ceramic found in Ca Na Costa, in La Mola, as well as different ceramic remains of various origins scattered along the island. Who knows if they are punic, Phoenician, Greek or Roman... What we do know is that this period of Formentera’s history is fairly unknown and that the only written prooves thereof that have arrived until today are brief references made almost exclusively by seemen that lived in those times.
Sepulcro megalítico de Ca Na Costa
The Greek stopped by at Formentera and, although there is no physical mark of them in the island, their legacy has arrived until today through the name with which they used to designate both Ibiza and Formentera, Phityusas (full of pines), and the name with which they used to designate Formentera, Ophiussa (full of snakes). This last designation is really strange when we discover that there is no proof of any of these reptiles living in Formentera.
As we have already stated, Formentera received the Carthaginian people, who lived in the island just for a while. Next to come here were the Roman, who left works as the Castellum Romà de C’an Pins. This construction is basically a defensive building. From its structure, we can deduce that, for some years, there was in Formentera a permanent detachment of Roman soldiers. Apparently, it is from this period of time that the current designation of Formentera comes. It seems that „Formentera“ comes from the latin word „frumentus“ (wheat). The island would be designated like that because of the high productivity of its land when it used to be cultivated. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the dark empire which both Vandal and Byzantine people established in Europe, arrived also at these islands.
There are signs of the existance of a monastery in La Mola towards the 5th century, which could prove that the island was not uninhabited by that time. Later on, towards the 10th century, begins one of the most prosperous periods lived in Formentera: the Arab domination. The Arabs began to designate Formentera as Koluyunka (full of sheeps). They carried out an intensive activity in the island. From those times we have inherited and still keep some remains like waterwheels, wells, irrigation canals, pieces of pottery, funeral monuments, etc. In 1235 Guillem de Montgrí, archbishop of Tarragona, conquers Formentera. In 1246 Montgrí offers to Berenguer Renart some land in the island, in return for which, Berenguer Renart promises to repopulate the island, as the territory donation document states. Were the people that Berenguer Renart brought to the island the ones who built a little Romanesque chapel (called Sa Tanca Vella), towards the year 1336, at the place where we find Sant Francesc Xavier today.
During 15th and 16th centuries, Formentera was uninhabited. The reason is that the pirates had arrived in the island and considered Formentera as a type of shelter for them, as well as a supply warehouse for food, water and wood. This was a risk for the islanders, who used to leave Formentera, and also the reason why there are 4 vigilance towers (one of which is situated in Espalmador).
AIn addition to that, there were some infectious illnesses, like the plague, that had also arrived in the island, which made the living in Formentera even worse. In 1695, a man from Ibiza called Marc Ferrer receives from the king himself the granting (for which Ferrer had been applying on numerous occasions) of a square league of land in Formentera. This illustrious figure must be considered as the first modern islander. Some years later, the king makes another land granting to Ferrer and also grants a plot of land to Ferrer’s son-in-law (Antoni Blanc). From the descendants of these two men and from those who married their descendants come most of the current islanders of Formentera. From that moment, the island begins to be settled at a very good rate and in a relatively short time, the island reaches the figure of 1.000 inhabitants, which will still rise until the current almost 6.000 inhabitants.
Formentera’s people have traditionally lived on cattle raising, agriculture and, to a lesser extent, on fishing, as well as on the salt extraction from the prolific saltworks. At the end of the 14th century everything started to change, because the aforementioned works were very hard to do. Men started to prefer enlisting in transatlantic merchant ship or emigrating to America. The number of islanders of Formentera who left the island was so high that the islanders of Ibiza started to call Formentera S’illa de ses dones (island of women).
In the last century, the island’s history goes more or less parallel to that of the rest of Spanish territory. As the whole Spain, Formentera also suffers the 1936 Civil War and its hard postwar years. Many Formentera’s inhabitants lost their lives beacuse of the intolerance of their enemies and executioners. From this murky time there is still a warehouse for airplane fuel with triangular plan located in S’estany Pudent and just the foundations of a prison located in La Savina.
From the 60’s on, life in the island starts to change thanks to the arrival of the first tourits. The traditional economic model begins to turn from an economy based exclusively on the primary sector into a economy based on the tertiary sector, i.e., services. Nowadays Formentera is financially dependent on tourism. All the jobs in the island depend directly or indirectly on it.
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