Shopping on Formentera means two things: the La Mola market on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons, and a small number of shops in San Francisco and Es Pujols that are open the rest of the week. There is no retail beyond that, and the island is better for it.
The useful distinction is between what is made here and what is brought in for the season. At La Mola the rule is that the work is handmade by the person selling it, which is unusual and is the reason the market has the reputation it has.
The La Mola market
It runs in the square at El Pilar de la Mola, on the plateau at the eastern end of the island, on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons from early May until 12 October, roughly 16:30 to 22:30.
There are about fifty stalls. Leather, ceramics, silver, glass and work made from recycled material, and the makers are behind the tables. There is usually a band in the square and the bars around it stay open through the evening, so it functions as the island's social evening as much as a market.
The drive up from the middle of the island takes twenty minutes and the last stretch climbs the plateau. If you are coming over from Ibiza for the day, this is the thing to build the day around.
San Francisco
The island's capital is a small square, a white eighteenth-century church and a few streets around it. The shops here are the year-round ones: clothing, sandals, a bookshop, food and a couple of jewellers.
A small craft market runs in the square through the summer, most days, and is a shorter version of La Mola without the evening.
Es Pujols and La Savina
Es Pujols is the island's small seaside strip and has the highest concentration of shops open in the evening, most of them beachwear and summer clothing. There is an evening craft market along the front through the season.
La Savina, where the ferry lands, has a handful of shops and is where most people hire bicycles rather than where they shop.
What is worth buying
Leather sandals, which are made here and have been for a long time. Silver and glass from the La Mola stalls. Straw and raffia work. Local salt and dried herbs from the food shops in San Francisco.
What not to bother with is anything you will also see on every Ibiza market table: the same sarongs and printed cloth circulate through both islands.
Quick answers
When is the La Mola market? Wednesday and Sunday afternoons, early May to 12 October, about 16:30 to 22:30.
How big is it? Around fifty stalls, and it takes an hour at a walk.
Is everything handmade? At La Mola, largely yes. That is the market's rule and the reason to go.
Where else can you shop? San Francisco for the year-round shops, Es Pujols in the evening.
Is anything open in winter? San Francisco, partly. The markets are seasonal.
Can you do it from Ibiza in a day? Yes, if your day falls on a Wednesday or a Sunday. The ferry takes about half an hour.
Worth knowing
Formentera is small enough that the market is the event of the day rather than a stop within it. If you are coming across from Ibiza specifically to shop, check the day first: on a Monday or a Friday there is very little to come for.