Right in the middle of Ibiza, about fifteen minutes from Ibiza Town, Santa Gertrudis de Fruitera is a small village that many people visit for a coffee or a meal, and then find hard to leave.
What it’s like
Everything turns around the white parish church, finished in 1797 in the plain Ibizan style, and the small square in front of it. The square is lined with bars and restaurants whose tables spill out under the trees, and on a sunny winter morning it is one of the most pleasant places on the island for a coffee. It is just as inviting on any summer’s day, whether you spend the morning in the shade of the trees or come back for a drink as the sun goes down.
Santa Gertrudis is also famous, among residents and visitors alike, for its jamón serrano sandwiches, and above all for those at Bar Costa, a village institution on the square.
The streets around it hold independent art galleries and design shops in restored houses. It is a small place: you can see it all in an hour, but most people take much longer.
What to see and do
Have breakfast or lunch in the square, walk around the galleries and take the lanes out into the countryside, which here is still mostly farmland, with almond and carob trees. The village celebrates its patron saint on 16 November, with traditional dancing in front of the church.
Getting there
Santa Gertrudis is just off the main road between Ibiza Town and Sant Miquel. There is parking around the village, but spaces near the square go quickly on summer weekends: come before 11am or after 3pm. Five bus lines reach Santa Gertrudis: the T5 and the A8, A9, A10 and A11.
Good to know
Being inland, Santa Gertrudis is as lively in winter as in summer, which makes it a good stop all year round.
