After s’Espalmador, on the way to Formentera, sa Conillera is the biggest islet of the Pityusic Islands with a surface area of around one hundred hectares and a maximum length of 2.1 kilometres. This island dominates the horizon of the Portmany Bay, and formerly it was used to provide essential raw materials such as juniper wood (Juniperus phoenicia) used to roof the country houses, or for the charcoal that was produced with leftover branches. Mastic (Pistacia lentiscus) and sea lavender (Limonium ebusitanum) also grow abundantly here.
Its name bears no relation to the rabbits that also inhabit the islet, but instead comes from the Latin cunicularia a name that was given to places where there were many galleries and caves in the rock face. You only have to sail round the island to discover that this name is indeed justified.
The island is host to many different types of gull (Larus michahellis the yellow legged gull and Audouin’s gull Larus audoinii), which nest on the ground, and also the Balearic shearwater (Puffinus mauretanicus), among other birds. Additionally, the island boasts a subspecies of lizard which is identical to the reptile living in the neighbouring island of Illa des Bosc and which is bigger than those found on the other islets, as well as having a different colour with tones of green and blue.
Since the mid-19th century, the island has had a lighthouse visible from the Portmany Bay which was manned by lighthouse keepers and their families until 1971 when it was automated. There is a legend, though it has been debunked by historians who blame the misunderstanding on a translation error, which states that in the third century AD, the wife of Amílcar Barca went into labour as they were sailing close to the island and she gave birth to her son Hannibal, the great conqueror, on the rocks of sa Conillera.
Several archaeological excavations have taken place on the island and in 2015, some tombs were found dating from the 16th century containing the remains of three young adults who had suffered violent deaths. They bore the marks of cuts on their bones, gunshot wounds, and one had been decapitated. It is believed that the bodies were those of pirates who were buried on the little island.
