The Seagull Tower, the defense of the west of Formentera

PalmaOur objective is the Torre de la Gavina, one of the five towers built in Formentera during the 18th century for the surveillance and defense of its fragile coastline. The other constructions are the Torre de la Guardiola, on the island of Espalmador, the Torre de Punta Prima, next to Es Pujols, the Torre del Pi del Català, on Migjorn beach, and the Torre del Garroveret, near Cap de Barbaria. The route we have traced circumvents the Estany del Peix, a large natural pond open to the sea by La Boca, which was the island's first major fishing and salt port. Indeed, the venda de Porto-salè takes its name from the Portus salarius, a salt exploitation from Roman times. An extraordinary place where natural and heritage values have built a powerful and extensive cultural landscape. We will also visit the public estate of Can Marroig, one of the emblematic corners of the Ses Salines de Eivissa i Formentera Natural Park. For inquiries about the island's public transport, we can consult the website busformetera.com, where we will find all the information about routes and timetables.

The route

[00 min] We start walking from La Savina along the main road towards La Mola. We don't completely leave this service nucleus, the main one in Formentera, because at the height of the Plaça de les Illes Pitiüses, we have to turn right, cross an extensive dirt esplanade used as public parking and position ourselves on the edge of the Estany del Peix. From here, our walk heads along the sea towards the southeast.

Immediately, on our left, we have the grounds of the old Formentera Penitentiary Colony, popularly known as ‘Es Campament’ [10 min]. A detention center with extremely harsh living conditions through which over two thousand men passed, between June 1940 and the end of 1942. Today, it is another space of memory of the Francoist repression suffered in the Balearic Islands. The path we are following goes around the pond until it opens onto a wide and comfortable dirt track, at the height of Can Plater [20 min]. We are at the gates of the protected areas that make up part of the Natural Park of Ses Salines d’Eivissa i Formentera.

From here, at all the forks, we must turn right. Our intention is to reach La Boca, the small sea passage that connects the waters of the pond with those of the great sea. A flat stretch, without any difficulty, which allows us to achieve a broader perspective of the area that, in the past, represented the island's first port. [45 min] Once past the Estanyets bridge, exploited as salt pans since Roman times, we leave on our left the path that leads to the interpretation center of the public estate of Can Marroig and turn right, along the path that borders the pond by the sea, heading east. We pass behind some boat sheds and take the final steps to the mouth [1 h 00 min].

Our route now continues towards the southwest, on the opposite side from the one that brought us here. We follow the track that, along the sea, runs through Caló de l’Oli, which opens from the mouth of the pond to Punta de la Pedrera. [1 h 20 min] Midway through the route, we leave Punta de la Pedrera on our right and turn left onto a dirt track that will take us to the interpretation center of Can Marroig [1 h 25 min], one of Formentera's emblematic estates and currently publicly owned. The first reference to the existence of this estate, then in the hands of the Church, dates back to 1797, when it was not yet known by its modern toponym. From 1855, after the Madoz disentailment, it passed into private hands, first to Agustí Fuster Cortès and later to the Majorcan businessman and politician Antoni Marroig i Boned (Palma, 1837 – 1900). During the Second Republic, the house became a tourist establishment, the Hotel IFA. After the Civil War, various urban development projects threatened the surroundings of Can Marroig, which was finally purchased by the Balearic Government in 1998.

We leave the houses behind and continue our walk, now heading south, along a dirt track. [1 h 30 min] We turn right, following signs that point us to the Gavina tower route through the Banc cove. We cross pine and garrigue scrubland until we emerge right in front of the sea [1 h 45 min]. El Banc is a small coastal plain formed by marine erosion, located just at the western end of the Banc point. In front of it, a few meters away, is the Banc shoal, and to the south of the point is the Banc cove. We turn left, facing south, along a path that borders the coastline and from which we can already glimpse our next objective.

Coastal watchtowers

We soon find ourselves at the foot of the Torre de la Gavina [2h 00min], the westernmost of the coastal watchtowers of the island of Formentera, located 14 meters above sea level on a point of the same name, between Cala Saona and Punta de la Pedrera, in the bay of Porto-salè. It was built, along with the other four towers on the island, in the second half of the 18th century. The execution of the works corresponded to engineer Garcia Martínez. It is a truncated cone-shaped building, nine meters high, with two floors and an upper platform protected by a continuous parapet.

We leave the tower facing south, cross a dry stone wall and join a path that runs along the cliff on the right, above the sea. To the left we will see three newly built villas, spaced apart from each other. Between the first and the second, we can join the path to Punta de la Marina, which would also take us to Porto-salè. We, however, continue until we reach the third [2 h 10 min], with grey and brownish tones. We follow a path that leads us inland, leaving the house on our right. We now follow a dirt track, heading west. We turn right at the first two forks; the next one, to the left. We emerge onto an asphalted road [2 h 35 min], where we turn left (west). At this point we find a bus stop.

We are at the epicentre of the Porto-salè sales. Where the asphalted road turns right, we go straight ahead on a dirt track, towards the Peix pond. We will pass by Can Rempuixa, Can Pep Riera and Can Joan Guerra, this one very close to an important fork [2 h 45 min], where we turn right. Five minutes later we complete the circuit on the path that borders this small enclosed sea. We turn right and retrace our steps until we reach the port of La Savina [3 h 20 min].

@Fita_a_Fita