Far de Formentor
Attraction · Mallorca
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The road to Far de Formentor is one of cycling's great climbs, ending at the highest lighthouse in the Balearic Islands, 210 m above the sea. It took six years to build, 1857–1863, the first two and a half spent carving a mule road for the materials. Keepers lived in near-total isolation here until 1962.
The road that carries you out here today is a relatively recent addition to the site, cut into these cliffs decades after the tower itself was finished. Once you're at the tower, the light apparatus has been swapped out more than once: a 1927 upgrade floated a new lens in a bath of mercury to let it spin more smoothly, and the old rotating mechanism was shipped off the following year to relight La Mola lighthouse on Formentera. The superseded 1863 optic survives today in Palma's Portopí lighthouse museum. Power was never simple out here either: lightning kept knocking out the electric line strung to the tower after it arrived in 1962, forcing the light onto diesel generators for years before it finally switched to the solar panels it runs on now.
Cars are banned past Platja de Formentor 15 May-15 Oct (10am-10pm), giving cyclists priority on this legendary climb.
What you see
From the terrace at the tip of the cape, the cliffs drop straight into a sea that shifts from deep blue to turquoise, with the small islet of Es Colomer just offshore and, on a clear day, the outline of Menorca visible on the horizon.
Practical
From 15 May to 15 October, private cars and motorbikes are barred from the road between Formentor beach and the lighthouse from 10:00 to 22:00; cyclists and walkers keep riding straight through, along with the TIB 334 shuttle bus.
part of: Roads built as statementspart of: Hairpin heaven: the most switchbacks on one climblighthouseviewpointcliffs