El Pilar de La Mola
Located in the high plateau of the island, the village of Pilar is most known by the name of the area where it´s located, La Mola. Traditions, culture and diversity define the village and its residents.
Facilities :
Photographic interest
ATM
Shops
Restaurants
Taxi rank
Bus stop
Location :
El Pilar de La Mola
✅ Located in the higlands of Formentera.
✅ Where the old traditions of the island are more rooted.
✅ Its Hippy Market is the most know on the island.
Read More
La Mola, Formentera and its history
The town of Pilar de La Mola is known among residents simply as La Mola, which is actually the name of the extensive area where its church and town are located, in the highlands of Formentera.
The church dedicated to its patron saint, the Virgen del Pilar, was founded in the middle of the 18th century as a result of the growing population settled in La Mola as a result of the repopulation of Formentera initiated in 1724 by Marc Ferrer.
Its primitive access, through the Camí de Sa Pujada, made La Mola a somewhat isolated place even within Formentera itself and, only the opening of the current highway in 1925, facilitated access to this area of the island by rest of its inhabitants.
La Mola, Formentera, nowadays
La Mola is a town where most of its inhabitants and their houses are located on the outskirts of town, in a rural area. Old traditional houses, some of them centuries old, and newly built houses but always in a rural setting.
The urban area of La Mola is formed by a single central street with houses on both sides.
In fact, the streets are the main road, PM-820, that crosses the town until it reaches the La Mola Lighthouse, about 2 kilometers away and that marks “the end” of the island of Formentera.
Facilities and shops
La Mola has a limited supply of commerce and services, to the extent of its small size, of course.
Some of these shops are open all year round and the rest open and close based on the arrival and end of the tourist season.
Bars, restaurants, shops and a bank office but it does not have a pharmacy, the closest being the one located in the town of Es Caló, about 5 kilometers away.
In this town of Formentera, La Mola, we want to highlight a publicly owned local, Casa del Poble, from where an important function of cultural dissemination is carried out, aimed especially at people from the island but where, as a visitor, you can attend without trouble.
Open-air cinema performances, concerts, theatrical performances ….. a great work of cultural dissemination by its managers.
Hippy market in La Mola, Formentera
Special mention deserves the La Mola Handicraft Market, better known as La Mola Hippy Market, which every Wednesday and Sunday in summer, in the afternoon, is filled with stalls selling handicrafts and live music.
It is the first market of these characteristics that was launched in Formentera at the end of the 60s when the hippy movement was a reality on the island.
Since then, the craft and sale stalls have spread to other parts of the island but the pioneer was this La Mola Craft Market.
Accommodation in La Mola, Formentera
This area of Formentera, including its urban center, does not have any hotel, hostel, or group of apartments and, by the tourist zoning law of the island in 2019, does not allow the rental of tourist flats.
Of course, La Mola, has a large number of licensed houses for tourist rental and that can be a great accommodation option where you can spend your holidays in Formentera.
If you are looking for a quiet environment away from the tourist centers par excellence, and where the nights are somewhat cooler than on the rest of the island, do not hesitate, your place in Formentera is La Mola.
Near beaches
The orography of this part of the island with its cliffs does not facilitate access to the sea and any of the most frequented beaches in Formentera are found beyond the curves of La Mola.
The closest beaches to the town are the Migjorn beaches, from Es Caló des Mort, Es Copinar and Es Arenals, along with the beaches around es Caló such as Ses Platgetes.
All of them about 5 kilometers apart.
Festivities in La Mola, Formentera
Every October 12, La Mola celebrates its patron saint festivities in honor of La Virgen del Pilar, where cultural, sports and musical events are programmed that last for several days.
The coincidence of dates with the end of the tourist season for the majority of the inhabitants of Formentera, make these festivities a reason for special celebration both for the inhabitants of La Mola and for the residents of the rest of the towns on the island. Deep-rooted traditions of the island’s culture are the center of the scheduled celebrations, there is also time to celebrate the Oktoberfest of La Mola, where the German residents of the island organize a great tasting of beers, sausages and typical Bavarian food as part of the festival program of this peculiar town of Formentera.
Olimpiada pagesa
For more than 15 years the Olimpiada Pagesa was held in La Mola.
A weekend of fun and laughter that one fine day a group of neighbors decided to carry out to break with the winter routine in Formentera. The start of the party was carried out with the lighting of a cauldron by one of The older residents of the town, and from that moment on, exhibitions, contests, games and a great popular paella encouraged the entire winter population of the island to go up to La Mola.
Unfortunately, there was no generational change in the organizational work and the Pagesa Olympiad in La Mola ended up disappearing in 2015.
A real pity.
