Far de la Mola Lighthouse
Perched on sheer 192-metre cliffs at Formentera's eastern extreme, the Far de la Mola lighthouse has guided sailors since 1861 and rewards visitors with one of the most theatrical sunset panoramas in the entire Mediterranean. On a clear evening the horizon curves visibly and the sea turns the colour of molten copper.
The View & the Cliffs
The lighthouse sits at the end of the PM-820 road, the island's only real climb, and the effort is immediately justified when you step onto the clifftop and find the sea dropping away hundreds of metres below. Looking west you can see the full length of Formentera laid out like a map, with Ibiza's silhouette rising beyond it.
Jules Verne mentioned these cliffs in his 1877 novel Hector Servadac, and a small commemorative monument near the lighthouse marks the spot. It is a pleasingly obscure literary pilgrimage that most visitors walk straight past without noticing.
The Village of El Pilar de la Mola
A kilometre before the lighthouse the whitewashed village of El Pilar de la Mola clusters around a simple church and a handful of craft stalls. Every Wednesday and Sunday afternoon a small artisan market sets up here, selling ceramics, silver jewellery and hand-dyed textiles made by the island's resident artists.
The Bar La Mola next to the church is the place to drink a cold Estrella Damm and eat a bocadillo before walking the final stretch to the lighthouse. It is unhurried, genuinely local and a world away from the beach-bar scene below.
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