Walking in Formentera, Spain

Formentera (Catalan pronunciation: [furmənˈteɾə], Spanish: [foɾmenˈteɾa]) is the smallest and more southerly island of the Pityusic Islands group (comprising Ibiza and Formentera, as well as various small islets), which belongs to the Balearic Islands autonomous community (Spain). It covers an area of 83.22 square kilometres (32.13 sq mi) (including offshore islets) and had a population of 10,582 at the Census of 1 November 2011; the latest official estimate (as at 1 January 2018) was 12,216.

The Pityusic Islands, often referenced simply as the Pityuses (Catalan: Pitiüses [pitiˈuzəs], Spanish: Pitiusas; from the Greek πιτύα pitýa, pine tree), or commonly but informally (and ambiguously) as the Pine Islands, is the name given collectively to the Balearic Islands of Ibiza (Catalan: Eivissa), Formentera, S'Espalmador and other small islets in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Battle of Formentara occurred on 28 October 1529 when an Ottoman fleet under Aydın Reis routed a small Spanish fleet of eight galleys off the island of Formentera near Ibiza.Habsburg emperor Charles V had sent a small Spanish fleet of eight galleys under the Spanish commander of the Castilla fleet, Rodrigo Portuondo, to eliminate Barbary ships from Algiers under Caccia Diavolo which were raiding the coast of Valencia and ferrying Moriscos from Spain to Algeria.