Punta Arabí runs every Wednesday from April to October, from 10:00 to 19:00, at Es Canar on the east coast. It is the biggest market on the island, with four to five hundred stalls and something like thirteen thousand people through it on a summer Wednesday.
It is also the oldest of them, started in 1973 by the artists and hippies who had settled on that part of the coast. The site is a slope under pine trees just back from the beach, which matters in July: this is the one big market where you can stand in shade.
What is there
Jewellery, leather, hats, printed clothing, bags, art and a lot of the same sarongs you will see at every other market. Not all of it is handmade and nobody pretends otherwise, so the trick is to walk the whole thing once before buying anything.
The stalls run in loops rather than straight rows, and the ones with the makers behind them tend to sit further in rather than along the entrance. There is live music through the day, there are living statues, and there is enough food on site that lunch is not a problem.
When to arrive
It opens at 10:00 and the coaches start arriving from about eleven. Between eleven and three in July and August it is crowded in the sense of shuffling rather than walking.
Either come at opening or come after four, when it thins out and the light under the pines is better. It shuts at 19:00 sharp and the stalls start packing up before that.
Getting there
Es Canar is about ten minutes north of Santa Eulalia and thirty-five from the airport. There is parking, and on a Wednesday in August it is full by the middle of the morning. Boats run along the coast from Santa Eulalia and Es Canar's own beach is a two-minute walk from the entrance, which makes the morning-market-then-swim version easy.
Quick answers
What day is Punta Arabi market? Wednesday, every week from April to October.
What are the opening hours? 10:00 to 19:00.
Is it open in winter? No. April to October only. Las Dalias is the one that runs most of the year.
How big is it? Four to five hundred stalls, and the largest market on Ibiza.
Is it free? Yes.
Is it good with children? Yes, better than most. It is flat, shaded, there is music and there is a beach at the end of it.
Making a day of it
The market takes two hours at a walk and the coast around it takes the rest of the day. Cala Nova is five minutes north, Cala Llenya a little further, and both are easier swimming than Es Canar's own beach.
If you are planning around market days rather than around beaches, the full week is in our guide to the hippy markets in Ibiza.