Ibiza Pirate Towers part 2

History of the Island

The first towers were built near to the three main population centres - Ibiza, San Antonio and Santa Eulalia - in the 16th & 17th centuries. They were primarily designed as shelters for the lookouts, in case they were surprised by the enemy and therefore unable to run back to town in time to fortify themselves with the other villagers inside the local church. Later more substantial towers were built in the 18th century to cover the coastline far away from the villages. These later towers were built with active defence in mind, as running back to back to town was not an option!

They were equipped with stores of muskets, kegs of gun powder, shot and a small cannon, had no entrance at ground level and stone walls ten feet thick. The occupants entered through an opening at first floor level accessed by a rope ladder which could easily be pulled up into the tower at the first sign of danger. However, at the first sign of danger the tower's defenders would raise the alarm, with smoke signals during daylight or fire at night, alerting the civilian population to take refuge in the local fortified church. Meanwhile soldiers would be dispatched from the Ibiza town fortress to relieve the tower in question. Those on watch keeping surveillance from the tower would then direct the troops to the attackers who were no match for regular soldiers.

Pirates soon discovered that attacking the towers was a mistake as they were well armed and their defenders had no compunction about pouring boiling water or pitch onto their attackers. Word soon got around amongst the piracy fraternity and with the growing reputation of the local corsairs the marauders soon decided that there were better pickings to be had elsewhere than Ibiza or Formentera. Not a single watch tower was ever taken by pirates or other marauders - the only damage ever done occurred when two bored watchmen chose to regularly sew their wild oats when they should have been on watch duty.

Legend has it that a jealous, youthful population lit a fuse that blew up the gunpowder store and most of one of the towers! In a similar vein, although the towers have been restored and reconstructed, they are kept locked to the general public nowadays to prevent further vandalism and even ritual suicides from being committed inside them or, or on their inspirational observation platforms with the unbelievable views...

Back to Pirate Towers part 1