SA PENYA EIVISSA IBIZA

At the far end of the harbour from Eivissa's new town, crammed into the narrow strip of land between Dalt Vila and the sea, is Sa Penya, the oldest section of the town to lie outside the medieval walls. How you view Sa Penya depends upon your spirit of adventure. Some will see it as the most interesting part of town, the place where the real Ibizencos live. But for others its dark, narrow alleys will seem forbidding, a good deal less salubrious than the bright lights of the island's main tourist trap.

Traditionally, Sa Penya was the fishermen's quarter of Eivissa and although it remains so for many who still earn a living from the sea, it is now largely the preserve of the Island's poorest inhabitants. A tour is often interrupted by lines of drying washing, fast-moving children or dogs, the latter either frightened or frightening. Your nose will work overtime deciphering odd cooking smells and your ears will be bombarded by shouts and strange hammerings  but there is an excitement and reality about Sa Penya that is sometimes absent from the glossier shopping streets just a stone's throw away.

To experience Sa Penya at its best, follow Carrer d'enmig (the aptly named street in the middle) from Plaza d' Antoni Riquer (go up Calle Pou then turn second left to Placa de Sa Riba at the harbor's end). Running parallel, one street further from the sea, is Calle de la Virgen (called Carrer Mare de Deu Mother of God Street in Catalan) where some of the oldest houses in Eivissa still stand.