MILLS IN SA MIRANDA

WIND MILLS  OF SA MIRANDA IN FORMENTERA

Giants memories of the past, when Formentera was hungry and in these mills that transformed the wheat into bread, thus they were essential in the daily life of this small island.

This "venda of Miranda" (venda, means something like neighborhood) is located on the same side of the capital of the smaller island of the "Pitiusas islands", and its main square is easy to find the street called Sa Miranda or Molins de sa Miranda. At that point is where we can find these gigants stone mills (6 are the antlers of wheat mills in Baleares, like those in Malta, which were identical in design to the Balearic Islands). This area although it seems a great plain, is actually the top of a small hill where with certain intensity blew the wind, reason why there are several of them at this very point. As we see in the picture above, today are relatively surrounded by lampposts and telephone, the result of technological breakthroughs that these mills have seen over the time.

In 1,990 these mills were declared of cultural interest, in the nineteenth century were seven throughout the island, only three remain today with the entire structure including the six blades per mill. These two mills have their names as locals know them by their proper names: Moli d'en Jeroni and Moli d'en Mateu. Although I have previously referred to the nineteenth century as a golden age, some of these mills were already in the eighteenth century, but unfortunately from the 50s of XXth century were falling into disuse.

As clearly seen in  one of them, is privately owned and is within the grounds of a private house, but that does not stop us to see its top, while the other one can be fully seen.
These mills are situated at an altitude of 60 meters above sea level, although not seem high altitude, for Formentera which is a very flat island is enough that they might come the winds to blow and make them work, while the people awaited for the results , I mean from his wheat to subsequently get the bread.

MILL IN PUIG DEN VALLS

THE MILL OF PUIG D´EN VALLS

Simple architecture, as anything ancient on the island, whether churches, houses or these nice old windmills that allowed people to grind the wheat and eated bread, in times where there were more scarce goods than at present. This mill is located at the top of a "puig" (hill) just opposite the city of Ibiza which is also a hill and is the oldest part of town known as Dalt Vila.

Unlike the popular windmills of La Mancha (in the spanish mainland) these ones in Ibiza have two more poles, a total of six, like the rest of the neighboring islands, although I must say that both Ibiza and Formentera are the simplest of the Balearic Islands due the lack of housing as a larger square at its base as it happens in Mallorca and Menorca, making them much larger than these ones in Ibiza and Formentera. This discreet but beautiful mill is not used anymore from the civil war, but milling wheat from its construction even before the year 1800s.

MILL IN SA PUNTA DES MOLI

MILL IN SA PUNTA

It is believed that the Arabs were who introduced windmills and water wheels and other those days mechanics systemshere on the island. As a child I visited Formentera on a day where I saw that there was something in Ibiza had passed into history, were the mills with blades. Many years after, probably at the initiative of a political culture, became the restoring of few remained standing mills. As a curiosity always amazed me that Ibiza and Formentera´s mills had six blades, two more than those showing in the books from La Mancha (Castille), where Don Quixote attacked those giants. Also those nice ones on pictures surrounded by tulips. The famous Dutch windmills.

The beauty of Ibiza ones had a more primitive, but rough looking. The Ibiza and Formentera mills are similar but not identical to the rest of the Balearic Islands, although in Menorca and Majorca are very similar to each other and have a home below the mill itself.

To talk about these mills in Ibiza, we must refer to the Puig des Molins in Ibiza Town. There are most mills (although only one restored with the blades), there is also one in Puig den Valls, near the city, Puig means mountain and was above the mountains where the wind blew over. But today the mill I propose is the one located in Sa Punta in Sant Antoni de Portmany that unlike the previous ones is located at the coast at the edge of the sea, and when the west wind blows I guess I was rolling and rolling. When was made nothing was around but today is blended into a tourist coast full of hotels and tourist attractions.

They were used to grind wheat and then make a good bread, very important in the island long ago. It seems that some mills in the island date from the thirteenth century and therefore I consider it an asset to be protected ...

MILLS

WATERMILLS

The water mills are easy to see in the Ibizan landscape, though unfortunately many have disappeared. They are to raise the water for the irrigation. They exist in great number on the south of the island, very near to the airport, but also in a lesser number around the rest of the island. In Majorca they are very common and many can be found near the airport, and they have become an icon of the island.

WINDMILLS

The other type of mills you can find in Ibiza are the Windmills. Its even more easy to find them on the Island of Formentera. They were used to mill flour. During the last years it´s possible to see them again, thanks to the Culture Department who restored some of them. So nowadays it´s possible to see them in Sant Antoni de Portmany (Molì de Sa Punta), Puig den Valls & Puig des molins (Ibiza City).

This one In Santa Agnes, is still at the top of one mountain. But the arms were blown down during several days of very strong winds.