Sant Llorenç de Balàfia, San Lorenzo in Spanish, is one of the most rural villages on the island: a white church, a handful of houses and farmland all around, in the hills between Santa Eulària and Sant Joan, in the municipality of Sant Joan.
What it’s like
The parish church was built in 1785 in the traditional Ibizan style, and there is little else in the village beyond a bar, a restaurant and a few homes. That is precisely its charm: this is the countryside as it used to be across much of the island.
What to see and do
A short walk from the church is Balàfia, a hamlet of five old farmhouses and two defence towers where local families once took refuge from pirate raids. Some of the walls still carry painted white crosses, a traditional form of protection. You can walk around the outside of the hamlet, but the houses are private homes and cannot be visited inside, so please respect the residents.
The village celebrates its patron saint, Saint Lawrence, on 10 August.
Getting there
From Ibiza Town, take the road towards Santa Eulària and turn left, just before the town, at the signs for Sant Llorenç. The T6 bus between Ibiza Town and Portinatx also stops in Sant Llorenç, though a car makes it easier to reach Balàfia and the countryside around the village.
Good to know
Combine it with nearby Sant Miquel or Santa Gertrudis for a day in the island’s interior.
