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Ruta ses Portes

Ruta ses Portes

THIS ROUTE ALLOWS US TO WALK AROUND THE ENTIRE PERIMETER OF THE SEAFRONT OF THE SALT FLATS OF IBIZA, CROSSING ITS TWO LARGE SANDY AREAS.


The cosmopolitan and famous beach of Ses Salines and the beach of Es Cavallet. The route can be started at either end and offers alternative routes through wooded areas and along the margins of the salt ponds facing east. The route does not require great effort, you just need to be careful to carry water and wear a cap or hat to protect you from the sun, especially during the summer season.

In our case, we will start the route in the area of Sa Canal, the village of small houses and warehouses that was built in the heat of the industrial phase of the salt exploitation, between the 19th and 20th centuries. The place has the special charm of the old classical architecture, with gabled roofs, whitewashed façades and porches with balustrades, which shelter doors and windows painted in emerald green. In front of the village, going into the sea, is the salt wharf, which incorporates all the necessary machinery for loading the salt onto the ships that moor on either side of it.

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Towards the western side, a few metres away, we can see a cove with fishermen's huts and vestiges of what was once the salt industry. For example, what remains of an old barge, still beached on stone and, further on, another wider ramp from which you can see some rails that plunge into the sea. These were the old shipyards where the salt company repaired and conditioned its barges, the transport used for the salt before the mechanisation of the whole process. The old salt loader, the village of Sa Canal and the salt dock are the industrial nucleus of the area, complemented by other buildings such as silos, administrative buildings and large warehouses. Some of them, by the way, have been converted into imposing exhibition halls, such as the one known as 'La Nave'. Next to it ran the old salt train track that transported the precious merchandise from the ponds.

Continuing along the route, we can make a small detour to the left to discover the Pou des Carbó, which was first dated 1765 and which supplied water to the railway boilers. Returning to the route, you will reach the popular beach of Ses Salines, a beautiful sandy area whose last stretch turns into small, secluded coves carved out of the sea by the effect of the wind and human activity. The most straight cuts correspond to the time when it was used as a quarry to supply stone for the construction of Ibiza's walls. If you do the route in summer, it is best to enjoy the shade of the path that runs through the forest that opens up behind the dunes on the beach. The paths converge and lead us to discover points of interest such as the Pouet de Sa Trinxa (a sea well used to supply fresh water to the labourers).

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At this point, if you wish, you can take a shortcut and head north, towards the salt ponds that open up behind an extensive juniper grove and lead you to Punta de Es Cavallet, the end of your route. If, on the other hand, we choose to continue along the seafront of Ses Salines beach, we will end up at the Ses Portes watchtower, a critically important enclave that was erected in the 17th century to control the passage of boats in the maritime channel between Ibiza and Formentera. From there the coast makes a turn of almost 180º and curves northwards. Es Cavallet beach opens up on this side, with a magnificent white sandy beach facing east, where you can see extensive meadows of posidonia on the seabed. This underwater plant, possibly one of the longest-living organisms on the planet, is responsible for the transparency of the waters due to its extremely high filtering and oxygenation capacity.

The route ends at the tip of Es Cavallet, at what is known as the Levante wharf, which was another salt loading dock. On the way back to the road that runs alongside the ponds, you will come across a small group of salt-producing houses and a small chapel, the Capella de la Revista, built in the 18th century to provide a religious service to the workers in the area

More info: here

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