Cap de Barbaria & Its Prehistoric Towers
Drive or cycle south from Sant Francesc Xavier along a dead-straight road through dry scrubland and you reach Cap de Barbaria, Formentera's southernmost point — a raw limestone headland with a small lighthouse, sheer sea cliffs and, scattered across the surrounding plateau, a cluster of Bronze Age megalithic structures that most visitors drive straight past.
The Prehistoric Remains
The Cap de Barbaria archaeological zone contains two talayot towers (Ca Na Costa and Cap de Barbaria I and II) dating to around 1600 BCE, making them among the oldest human constructions in the Balearic Islands. The stones sit in open scrubland with no fencing, no ticket booth and almost no signage — you can walk right up to them and run your hand along walls built three and a half thousand years ago.
The nearby Ca Na Costa megalithic tomb, a short detour off the main cape road near the salt flats, is even more impressive: a circular burial chamber of upright stone slabs that archaeologists excavated in the 1970s, yielding remains of multiple individuals and grave goods now held in the island museum.
The Cape Itself
Beyond the prehistoric sites, the cape road ends at a small lighthouse perched above dramatic vertical cliffs. There is no beach here, just raw rock, crashing surf and an unobstructed view south toward Algeria. On windy days the gusts are ferocious and exhilarating; on calm mornings the sea below is a deep, still indigo.
A narrow path follows the cliff edge westward for about a kilometre, passing blowholes and natural arches before petering out in the scrub. It's not signposted and not crowded — bring water, wear sturdy shoes and enjoy having one of the Balearics' most dramatic coastlines almost entirely to yourself.
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