The Quiet Sister Island of Ibiza

When we think about islands off the coast of Spain, many of us tend to picture Ibiza with many tourists flocking to its beautiful beaches and wild nightlife. Is there any way to enjoy the natural beauty of a Spanish island without all the commotion? New York Times Travel writer, Julia Chaplin, sheds light on a lesser known island, Formentera, where you can enjoy a quiet stay in her article Near Ibiza, a Quiet Place to Recuperate.

“Over the years, the fabled Spanish island of Ibiza has developed into a package-tour, party Valhalla pocked with megaclubs and concrete high-rise condominiums. In contrast, Formentera, just two miles away, seems like a different planet, or at least a different social orbit. The smallest of the inhabited Balearic Islands, with no airport and few paved roads, Formentera has become fashionable not so much for what it has but for what it does not: a scene.

‘There’s no high-heel glamour here, just sand and sun,’ said Consuelo Castiglioni, the designer of Marni, the Italian fashion label, who keeps a vacation home on Formentera. ‘It’s a hideaway where we can relax.’

Inevitably, Formentera’s antiscene has become a scene in itself. Ask people who’ve spent time on the island about it and they will breathlessly brag about finishing long books and going to bed before midnight as if they had just climbed Mount Everest. All of which has made the island more irresistible to those seeking shelter from the limelight, among them Kate Moss, Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran, David Gilmore of Pink Floyd and the designer Philippe Starck, who built an experimental home there. ‘It’s a place for stressed-out people,’ said Patsy Dodd, who met her husband, the artist Lance Tilbury, at a full-moon party there in 1964. ‘The air is so relaxing, everyone comes down a notch.'”