A slumbering natural treasure

Ses Feixes was first laid out during the period of Islamic rule between the 10th and 13th centuries. Just as in the south of the Iberian peninsula, the Moors constructed an irrigation system that was highly sophisticated for the time. They recognised the excellent potential of the plain between the hills of Jesús, Sant Josep and Santa Eulària, laying out a patchwork of allotments that were separated from each other by a network of ditches approximately one and a half metres in width and one metre in depth. By exploiting freshwater streams as well as the ground water and sea water, they were able to irrigate their small parcels of land in a highly efficient manner. The underground channels or fibles, some 30cm below the surface, branched off from the ditches and fed the 75m x 25m plots according to the capillary principle. The flow of water was controlled by a sluice gate which would be opened when heavy rain threatened to swamp the area and closed during periods of drought. Up to the second half of the 20th century, Ses Feixes served as the ‘vegetable garden’ of Ibiza Town. Crops grown here included sweet potatoes, ordinary potatoes, figs, persimmon, quince, honey melon and water melon, beetroot, cauliflower and beans.

Up to the beginning of the 19th century, the feixes extended across the bay of Talamanca and the bay of the modern harbour. Today, they are divided into Prat de Vila (i.e. the area bordering Ibiza Town), Prat de Ses Monges in Talamanca and the zone in between stretching from Avenida 8 de Agosto to the sea. In order to generate public interest in the area, GEN have suggested that an information centre could be established in Prat de Vila or in Talamanca. “If we want to restore this area, the most fundamental priority is to conserve it. This is a difficult issue because the town council have classified Prat de Vila and parts of Prat des Ses Monges exclusively as agricultural land. There is some doubt as to whether it can be reclassified as a cultural heritage zone,” stresses Marìa. In Prat de Vila, where there were once 84 feixes covering an area of 306,000 square metres, a survey was recently conducted of the characteristic stone entrances or portals de feixes. Marìa thinks that these gateways should be restored, as they line an ancient route that was formerly traversed by carts. This led from the Juan XXIII roundabout to the Club Naútico, the site of an ox-powered mill. The old roads including the Carrer de Murteres and Carrer de Jesús could be opened up again. One further bonus would be to reduce the risk of flooding in the plain upon which Ibiza Town is built, with storm water flowing along original courses, freshwater once again channelled into the network of ditches and outflow into the sea being controlled. In Prat de ses Monges, around 30 percent of the 60 feixes, which originally covered 307,000 square metres, have been destroyed

. There is only one solitary feixa that is still being used for agricultural purposes. “I very much doubt that any other local government in Spain would allow a wetland area of such biological interest and agricultural value to decline in the way that we have seen here,” adds Marìa. Hazel Morgan, coordinator at Amics de la Terra, is of the opinion that Ses Feixes is a major asset to Ibiza’s heritage. Because of its position in the Mediterranean between Europe and Africa, the Island is an important stopover for migratory birds. Marìa also stresses the ethnological aspect to the cultural heritage argument. This finds its expression in the road network, the stone-lintel gates and the irrigation system. If the feixes were restored to their original condition, visitors to the Island could be taken on guided tours and hear all about the history and unique biodiversity of the area.
Marìa is convinced that the tourism industry in Ibiza Town and Talamanca would benefit from promoting Ses Feixes as a cultural attraction. If it was possible for the people of one thousand years ago with their level of technology to use the feixes to such great advantage, it seems only logical to Marìa that, with our current levels of expertise, we can once again bring this space back to life. Just sixty years ago, the biodiversity in Ses Feixes was so great that Ibicencos would come here to hunt and fish. The whole area was alive. He thinks it should be relatively simple to breathe life back into the zone. For a start, water could be allowed back into the system and wildlife would return as a matter of course. “There are birds and animals just waiting to take up residence once again in a habitat that was lost to them for a while,” says Hazel with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.


Information:

GEN GOB Eivissa
www.gengob.org

Amics de la Terra Eivissa
www.amics-terra.org