Sant Antoni de Portmany (; ), or simply Sant Antoni (), is a town on the western coast of

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

, the second-largest town and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

on the island.World's best clubbing destinations
/ref> It is situated on Sant Antoni Bay on the west coast of the island, part of the Spain

autonomous community The autonomous communities () are the first-level administrative divisions of Spain, created in accordance with the Spanish Constitution of 1978, with the aim of guaranteeing limited autonomy to the nationalities and regions that make up Sp ...

of the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

History

For two thousand years, Sant Antoni was a small fishing village that rose from the Roman natural harbor Portus Magnus, but it began to grow in the late 1950s when many hotels and tourist resorts were built as part of a mass tourism initiative which took place across Spain. As the number of tourists grew, the development of bars, hotels and other tourist infrastructure spread right around to the other side of San Antonio bay, as far as Cala de Bou which lies in the adjacent municipality of Sant Josep de sa Talaia. Since the 1980s British tourists have made up the majority of summertime visitors to San Antonio.

The Egg

The Egg is a statue erected in the early 1990s to commemorate the local claim of having been the birthplace of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

(there is a similar claim that

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

was born in the region). The statue is in the shape of an egg, containing at its centre a model of his ship: the Santa Maria. The choice of an egg comes from a story about Columbus, who when seeking funding for his Western route to the Indies, was told it was impossible. He then allegedly asked if standing an egg upright was impossible, and when told that it was, he cracked the base of an egg, thus making it possible for it to stand upright. He was then granted funding. See

Egg of Columbus An egg of Columbus or Columbus's egg ( ) refers to a seemingly impossible task that becomes easy once understood. The expression refers to an apocryphal story, dating from at least the 16th century, in which it is said that Christopher Columbus, ...

Passeig de ses Fonts

PaseoDeSesFonts-inSanAntonioAbad-Ibiza05

Part of Sant Antoni's harbourside promenade, Passeig de ses Fonts, is an area which was developed in the early 1990s to improve the appearance of the town. There are many plants, including

palm tree The Arecaceae () is a family of perennial, flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are colloquially c ...

s and rubber plants, as well as large fountains, which are illuminated by night. Across the square are a host of restaurants and cafés offering a view over Sant Antoni Bay. It is also the best place from which to watch the massive fireworks display which celebrates the fiesta of Saint

Bartholomew Bartholomew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Most scholars today identify Bartholomew as Nathanael, who appears in the Gospel of John (1:45–51; cf. 21:2). New Testament references The name ''Bartholomew ...

on 24 August.

West End

The ' West End' is an area of San Antonio. Only a couple of streets wide; the main street is the Carrer de Santa Agnès, it hosts a variety of bars ranging from the dance and house music Ibiza is famed for to

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

and

indie music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music, or simply indie) is a broad style of music characterized by creative freedoms, low-budgets, and a do-it-yourself approach to music creation, which originated from the liberties afforded by in ...

. Originally the name "The West End" refers to a night time minibus trip from hotels in Es Cana in the 1970s that would come to San Antonio's bars (as Es Cana had no bar scene) and the name of this tour package was "The West End Experience". Since then the area has become known simply as "The West End".

Sunset Strip

Along the coast of the natural bay of San Antonio de Portmany in the west is the Sunset Strip - a venue where visitors to the island meet at sunset at various bars including the

Café del Mar A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargile ...

, Café Mambo, where the likes of

Swedish House Mafia Swedish House Mafia (SHM) are a Swedish house music, house Supergroup (music), supergroup consisting of Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso. The group officially formed in late 2008, were placed at number ten on the ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 D ...

Carl Cox Carl Andrew Cox (born 29 July 1962) is a British house and techno club DJ, radio DJ, motorsport team owner and record producer. He is based in Frankston, Victoria, Australia. Cox has won and been nominated for numerous awards. He has perfor ...

David Guetta Pierre David Guetta (; born 7 November 1967) is a French DJ and record producer. He has sold over 10 million albums and 65 million singles globally, with more than 30 billion streams on Spotify. Guetta was voted the number one DJ in the DJ Mag ...

and

Pete Tong Peter Michael Tong (born 30 July 1960) is an English DJ who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as '' Essential Mix'' and '' Essential Selection'' on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio streams, for ...

DJ on a regular basis. The west-facing strip of coastline means that it faces the sunset.

Ferries and boat cruises

Among the harbour of San Antonio there are various boats and ferries that have multiple connections to beaches. These have daily departures from may until end September or October. Also once a week there is a ferry to Formentera. CAFE MAMBO

Gallery

File:Cala Salada, near Sant Antoni.jpg, Cala Salada, north of Sant Antoni File:Sunset of ibiza from san an.JPG, Sunset File:West End Sant Antoni.jpg, West End of Sant Antoni in July 2006 File:20230713 190527 The church in Saint Antony de Portmani (Ibiza).jpg, A church in Sant Antoni

References

External links

The Town Hall website

Local government website

San Antonio Ibiza Travel Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antoni de Portmany, Sant Towns in Ibiza Mediterranean port cities and towns in Spain Seaside resorts in Spain