Elegant, whitewashed windmills with enormous, rustic wooden vanes can be seen in La Mola, Sant Ferrán and Sant Francesc.

Spain's conquest of the Netherlands in the sixteenth century led to introduction of the first windmills, mainly in regions with water shortages such as the southwestern mainland, La Mancha and the Canary and Balearic Islands.

Mills drove the economy until late twentieth century and different types of them were used to grind salt, make pottery and extract water, but most of them were used to grind flour, which was the case of Formentera's windmills.

The island was known as the ‘land of wheat' in Roman times and flour was essential to its economy, which is why seven windmills in all were erected; five of them are still standing and are open to visitors.

There are two windmills in Sant Francesc Xavier (Molí den Mateu from 1773 and Molí den Gerona from 1760), one in Sant Ferran (Molí den Tauet from 1760) and two in La Mola, both of which were built in 1893 (Molí den Simon, which is owned by the Illes Balears Foundation, and Molí den Botiga, of which only a tower remains).

Another windmill, of which only the foundations remain, used to stand in Es Cap de Barbaria. 

These windmills, made out of whitewashed rubblework, were generally three storeys high: the top floor for machinery and the grindstone, the first floor to store the flour and the ground floor for the warehouse. The cone-shaped roof could be adjusted to orient the vanes to the prevailing winds.

[Via illesbalears.es website]