Events that make you lick your fingers and come back for more

We have a fair that will enable you to discover that cabbage, rice and gerret (picarel) can combine in a surprisingly delicious way. We also have a day when you’ll sample all of Ibiza’s favourite recipes for making squid. And then there’s a whole weekend when you’ll have scrumptious fun as you go from one tapa to the next.

Santa Eulària’s gastronomy events leave you with a wonderful taste in your mouth

Gastronomy means enjoyment, festivity, and gathering. It is also a celebration of the products yielded by the land and sea. For this reason, in Santa Eulària, we like to host culinary events throughout the year – they provide a delicious excuse for weekend getaways outside the summer months. At various intervals throughout the year, you’ll find gastronomy-driven events both at the island level as well as the local festivities we hold in our own villages and parishes, such as the Fira des Gerret (the Piceral Fair), the Fira Gastronómica des Calamar (the Gastronomic Squid Fair), and Tapaví, a veritable odyssey of tapa tasting and tippling.

Fira des Gerret

The first Saturday in March marks the day on which Santa Eulària organizes the Fira des Gerret, a gastronomical happening centred around a type of fish known as gerret, or picarel, a tasty local variety that features in numerous island recipes, such as rice with gerret and cabbage, or gerret in brine. On the appointed day, the Plaça de Espanya and the surrounding streets of Sant Jaume and s’Alamera fill up with some twenty stalls run by participating restaurants whose chefs offer tasting dishes made with fresh gerret caught by the fishermen’s guilds of Santa Eulària and Sant Antoni. These samples range from classic recipes to more creative innovations. 

The event starts at noon with the so-called brulada de corn (a summoning call emitted by a conch shell), followed by a performance of folk dancing. The day also includes children’s activities, live music, and a maritime/craft market. If all of this makes you hungry for more, certain restaurants offer special gerret menus during the following week.

Gastronomic Squid Fair

On the last Saturday in October, the village of Sant Carles is infused by the smell of calamari in every conceivable form: fried in frita, stuffed with sobrassada, à la bruta (in its ink), grilled, in fideuá (a pasta-based paella-like dish), in sauce, etc. You’ll encounter more squid dishes than you ever thought possible, both traditional and new-fangled. This open-air culinary event is held in the vicinity of the church and features both professional chefs as well as amateurs, who serve up their concoctions using squid caught by the fishermen’s guilds of Santa Eulària and Sant Antoni.

The Squid Fair starts at 1 pm and includes musical performances throughout the day, as well as an area for children’s games and workshops, all followed by a concert at night. It’s a full day of fun that you can combine with a morning hike or a visit to the house-museum Es Trull de Ca n’Andreu. 

Tapaví

Some twenty restaurants around town participate in this annual gastronomy fair, held on a Saturday in mid-October and designed to coincide with the shopping event Autumn Stock Fair. Here is a great chance to try appetizing tapas proffered by participating venues, and to get to know (or rediscover) restaurants where you can dine during your winter getaway to Ibiza. In addition to the traditional wine bar, you will also find a cocktail bar, and a cafè caleta bar, one of the island’s specialities.