Ibiza World Heritage

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On December 4, 1999, UNESCO registered the Eivissa, Biodiversity and Culture category within the World Heritage set. In this way, the Pitiüses became part of this exclusive world club of which Spain is the member with the largest amount of assets.

For an eminently tourist island, this recognition represents the appropriate tool to promote all its attractions and overcome the topic of sun, beach and party, famous throughout the world. The ancient culture and the rich biodiversity of Eivissa have found in the World Heritage declaration an ideal promotional vehicle. In recent years, Eivissa has already noticed an increase in cultural, rural and sports tourism, one of its strongest bets for the future.

UNESCO declared World Heritage the Acropolis of Dalt Vila (the old town of Eivissa), the seagrass meadows, cradle of the rich marine biodiversity of the Pitiüses, the Phoenician site of Sa Caleta and the Punic necropolis of Puig des Molins, these last vestiges of the first settlements of the islands.

Dalt Vila is a monument to History. In its multiple layers the trail of all the cultures that have passed through the island is superimposed, from the first settlers of the bay of the city of Eivissa, passing through Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans and Muslims, to the Catalan conquest at the hands of the Kingdom of Aragon, in the 13th century. Its architecture, of great beauty and simplicity, has remarkably influenced the colonial constructions of the New World.

The Posidonia meadows - a phanerogamic marine plant endemic to the Mediterranean - are the origin of the beauty and transparency of the waters of the Pitiuse sea. Its conservation is therefore an imperative, since the vast biodiversity of the waters of Eivissa and Formentera depends directly on its good health. Like the coral reefs in the tropical seas, the posidonia meadows of Eivissa and Formentera are a world heritage site whose loss would be a catastrophe for the food chain.

Source: eivissa.es