A brief history shows that Formentera was already inhabited around 1800 B.C. when its inhabitants left us the legacy of the megalithic monuments of Ca Na Costa (the most important) and also the remains of a megalithic settlement in Es Cap de Berberia. Unfortunately, very little has survived the passage of time along with the added factor of later inhabitants using these stones to build their own houses or stone walls. However, various objects of ceramics have been found in different areas of the island.

The Greeks left their imprint on the language and it is thanks to them that we have the name of Pitiuses (“Pitiusas” which comes from “pinosas” or pines) to refer to Ibiza and Formentera and also Ophiusa (land of reptiles which refers to the lizards that are found everywhere).

The Romans, however, left their physical imprint on the island and their biggest legacy is the Roman Castle of Can Blai (el Castellum Romà de Can Blai) which was to be a defensive fortress although today we can only see the remains of the foundations of the walls. We probably owe the name of Formentera to the Romans since it may come from the Roman word Frumentaria (which signifies island of wheat which the Romans planted here). There are other theories about the origins of the name, one of which offers the possibility that it comes from Promontorio (from the two promontories of La Mola and Es Cap).

     It was not until 1235 that Guillem de Montgrí conquered Formentera and this signified the start of the repopulation of the island. After the Christian reconquest, Formentera was uninhabited again due to the Moorish incursions from the end of the 14th century until the end of the 17th century. The attacks of the pirates were so strong that Felipe II ordered the evacuation of Baleares. This was the beginning of a period of plundering by pirates who took advantage of the island to replenish provisions and take refuge from storms. Various stories about the pirates circulate in the island, especially about the famous brothers Barbaroja.

In 1695 Marc Ferrer received the concession of part of the island from the king and later his son-in-law received the concession of another part. Both of them can be considered as the founding fathers of the actual population of Formentera.There was basically a subsistence economy in the island as people made a living from agriculture, livestock, fishing and the exploitation of the saltpans with the “exportation” of salt to the peninsula.

There was a time when emigration became quite important and many Formenterans sought out their futures in South America in countries such as Argentina which there is a big Balear community. It was this emigration, mainly of men, that propitiated the name of the Island of Women (Illa de Ses Dones or Isla de Las Mujeres).

During the last century the history of Formentera was struck by the civil war and the postwar period. A vestige of this black period of the island are the remains of the concentration camp (Es Campament) that can be found in La Savina, opposite the crossroad to Es Pujols.

In the 1960’s the first visitors arrived in Formentera and from the 1980’s the arrival of tourists brought a rapid growth to the island economy. Today tourism in the hotels of Formentera is the main source of income for the inhabitants of Formentera.