Ses Salines
Working salt pans, a nature park and the beach at the island’s southern tip
Ses Salines is Ibiza’s southern tip: a nature park of shallow salt basins, pine woods, dunes and a long sand beach looking across to Formentera. It is an industrial site and a protected area at the same time — salt is still harvested here. The beach is one of the island’s best known, and the land behind it is among the quietest places on Ibiza.
History
Salt was Ibiza’s main export for centuries, long before a single tourist arrived. The shallow basins you see from the road are the same working salt pans: seawater is let in, evaporates in the sun and leaves a crust of salt to be harvested. That salt travelled across the Mediterranean as a preservative — it is the reason this small island counted economically at all. The area is now a nature park and a stopover for migratory birds, flamingos among them, which feed in the basins. Together with the sea around it, this stretch forms the setting of the protected posidonia meadows.
What to do here
- Drive or cycle along the salt basins and stop at the birdwatching points; in migration season there are flamingos in the water.
- Walk the beach down to the pine woods at the southern end, where it gets much quieter immediately.
- Carry on to the Torre de ses Portes on the far point, looking across the strait to Formentera.
- Snorkel over the seagrass beds and pay attention to what is under you — the posidonia is protected.
- Come early in the morning or late in the afternoon; in the middle of the day there is barely any shade.
- Look at the salt mountains by the loading quay: the product still leaves the island from here.
Facts
- The salt pans are still in production; salt was Ibiza’s main export for centuries.
- Ses Salines is a nature park and a stopover for migratory birds, including flamingos.
- The posidonia meadows in the sea between Ibiza and Formentera are part of the 1999 UNESCO World Heritage site.
- Posidonia is protected; boats may not anchor over it and have to move to sandy bottom.
Good for
Nature lovers, birdwatchers, walkers and anyone who wants a beach with a hinterland.
Honestly
Public transport is thin outside high season, and the beach car parks are full by midday in August. On summer evenings the mosquitoes near the salt basins can be a real nuisance.
