San Miguel, or Sant Miquel de Balansat, sits on a hill in the north of the island about twenty minutes from Ibiza Town. It is a working village rather than a holiday one: a church at the top, bars and restaurants below it, shops, and people who live there all year.
The church is the reason to climb the hill. It was founded in the fourteenth century, making this one of Ibiza's oldest parishes, and it was extended and fortified over the centuries that followed as a refuge from pirate raids. What stands now is less a church than a small white fortress.
Ball pages, every Thursday
The clearest chance on the island to see the traditional dance outside a village fiesta. The Colla de Balansat performs in the church square every Thursday from June to September, starting at quarter past six and running about three quarters of an hour.
Women dance in full dress with the heavy gold and coral emprendades, accompanied by castanets, flute and drum. It is ticketed and it is the real thing rather than a hotel show.
Below the village
Port de Sant Miquel is four kilometres north, a former fishing cove now given over to family hotels, with a sheltered white-sand beach between high cliffs.
Above the port is the Cova de Can Marca, a show cave used by smugglers, with a guided tour of about forty minutes through stalactites and underground lakes.
Benirras, with its Sunday drumming, is reached by a separate road from the village.
Quick answers
Where is San Miguel? In the north, about twenty minutes from Ibiza Town.
How old is the church? Founded in the fourteenth century and extended afterwards.
When can you see ball pages? Thursdays at 18:15, June to September, in the church square.
Is there a beach? Port de Sant Miquel, four kilometres north.
What is the cave? Cova de Can Marca, a show cave above the port, about a forty-minute tour.
Is it a working village? Yes, lived in all year.