FORMENTERA - SANT FERRÁN DE SES ROQUES
This is the scene in Sant Ferrán de ses Roques (San Fernando), one of four villages on this island. The hippie market is held along the walkway, with artists selling crafts. You have the legendary Fonda Pepe at one end, where we usually end up.
FONDA PEPE Calle Mayor 55, Sant Ferrán de ses Roques, 07871 Formentera +34 971 328 033
This is the heart and soul of the island. Most nights, there is music yards away and a market of artisans, some of whom we know well and were at the Fonda, where I first discovered it in 1973.
This is where the hippies, including me, hung out in the early seventies, and it remains the island's hearthstone.
German tourists and Italian models walk by
Moroccan hashish sellers sit in the back on one side, waiting for a sale, but they are harmless.
It borders the church plaza, where the oldest church on the island was built in the 1700s.
This is where the music is performed, and it is an excellent place for people to watch and connect with friends.
You can sit outside with everyone else and quaff a beer, gorge on calamari Andalusian style with a tremendous garlicky aioli, and watch the evening parade.
You are guaranteed to meet old friends you haven't seen in decades, as Bernadette always does, or acquaintances from the week before. The constant parade is like a scene from William Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, or Ernest Hemingway.
Down the street, mere yards away, is the best pizza place on the island at
PIZZARIA MACONDO Calle Mayor 67, Sant Ferrán de ses Roques, 07871 Formentera +34 971 329 069 www.macondoformentera.com
At the other end of Fonda Pepe is Macondo, which boasts a damn good pizza and where you mostly sit outside at tables and under canopies. The waiters are friendly and fast, and the pizza bursts with interesting combinations and fresh ingredients. This is one of the best pizzas I have eaten of the thin crust variety.
You sit here listening to street music and performers, drinking Hierbas (the local drink made out of herbs from the Islands, originally by monks 200 years ago), and eating a great pizza made with thin slices of excellent Jamón, buffalo mozzarella, and a large number of fresh mushrooms and walnuts. Simply fantastic.
Many restaurants serve a shot of hierbas in the house after the meal. In this case, an overzealous waiter brought two shots, much to my initial joy and later to my detriment and utter ruin….
The crowd shot features our friends Luka and Sandra, craftspeople from Barcelona, and their hippie children. Sandra holds her young son Hortus, with whom we always hang out.
You get a fantastic, huge, thin-crust pizza with fresh ingredients for €13.50.
Or if you want something cheap and quick
KEBAB FORMENTERA (K BOB) Calle Joan Castelló 47, Sant Ferrán de ses Roques, 07871 Formentera +34 971 321 992 You can opt for a kebab at K Bob for €5.
Across from K Bob is
SA PANXA RESTAURANT Calle Joan Castello Guasch 48, Sant Ferrán de ses Roques, 07871 Formentera +34 971 329 106
The venue has an open-air stage and restaurant, where you can catch a rising band from the island or visiting from the Mainland without a cover charge. A Clara (shandy, half beer and half lemonade) is €2 here, and you can sit as long as you want.
There is also the Moroccan grocer from whom you can buy a sweet watermelon or some spices.……
Words and pictures © Jonathon Lipsin
All of Jonathon's restaurant reviews can be found by clicking here.
You can find Jonathon's Formentera hippy music picks below
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