Santa Eulària des Riu

During the period of Muslim rule, this part of Ibiza was known as Xarc. After the Christian conquest, the island was divided into administrative quarters called quartons, and the one covering this area was granted to the Infant Pere of Portugal, who held it as a vassal of Guillem de Montgrí, Bishop of Tarragona, who in turn held the royal rights of conquest. King Jaume I later acquired Pere of Portugal's rights, and the quarter was renamed the Quartó del Rei — the King's Quarter. This created an unusual legal tangle: on Ibiza, the king was technically a vassal of the Archbishop of Tarragona, who was himself a vassal of the king.

The town grew up around its church on the hilltop of the Puig de Missa. The church and its adjoining tower, from which artillery could cover the surrounding area, remain the focal point of the old settlement.

The municipality of Santa Eulària des Riu was first established during the liberal period in Spain between 1810 and 1814, recognised again during the Liberal Triennium of 1820 to 1823, and permanently instituted in 1833. Its territory follows the boundary of the old Quartó de Santa Eulària, or Quartó del Rei.

Beyond the main town, the municipality takes in several tourist coastal areas — des Figueral, Cala Llenya, es Canar, s'Argamassa, Cala Pada, Cala Llonga, and sa Roca Llisa — as well as smaller settlements including Jesús, as Puig d'en Valls, and various urbanisations.

The town's traditional festivals fall on 12 February (Santa Eulària), the first and third Sundays of May, 10 July (Sant Cristòfol, at es Canar), 15 August (Mare de Déu, at Cala Llonga), 8 September (at Jesús), 4 November (Sant Carles), and 16 November (Santa Gertrudis).

The fortified church on the Puig de Missa is one of five such structures still standing on Ibiza, first documented in 1302. The original building was destroyed in a Turkish raid; the current church was completed in 1568, possibly with input from Gianbattista Calvi, the engineer behind Ibiza Town's Renaissance walls. The porticos and side chapels came later, and the Baroque altarpiece now dominating the high altar arrived in 1967, originally from the church of San Millán in Segovia.

Also on the Puig de Missa are a rural ethnographic museum at the farmhouse of Can Ros and a gallery dedicated to Catalan painter Laureà Barrau, who lived on the island from 1932 until his death in 1957.

Santa Eulària des Riu sits on road EI-200, 15 km northeast of Ibiza Town and 22 km from Ibiza Airport. The town is laid out on a grid from Plaça d'Espanya; Carrer Sant Jaume runs west to east, with Carrer Sant Vicent running parallel one block back. Carrer Sant Vicent is pedestrianised and lined with tavernas, restaurants, and a couple of lively bars.

Two hippie markets draw large crowds: Punta Arabi in Es Canar runs all day every Wednesday from April through October, and Las Dalias near Sant Carles runs all day every Saturday year-round, with a Night Market on Monday and Tuesday evenings from June through September.