The must-see: Lucía y el sexo
Shot for the most part on the beaches of Formentera, Lucía y el sexo (2001) is Spanish director Julio Medem's fifth feature film. Lucía, played by Paz Vega, leaves her job as a waitress in Madrid to seek peace and quiet on the Mediterranean island of Formentera. As she walks and wanders, she begins to recall moments shared with her writer lover Lorenzo (Tristán Ulloa), whom she believes to be dead, but whose characters seem to mingle with reality. Playing with the past and the present, Julio Medem constructs a complex narrative while adding a completely assumed aesthetic and sexual freedom. Paz Vega is flamboyant, earning her the Goya for Best Actress of the Year in 2002. One of the film's iconic locations is a short walk to the cliffs of Cap de Barbaria, with its lighthouse dominating the landscape. At the foot of the lighthouse, you can immerse yourself in the intoxicating atmosphere of the film, and visit the Cova Foradada, a natural cave whose entrance can be seen in one of the main sequences. Be careful, though, as the floor is slippery.
The dose of chills: La cueva
Speaking of caves, the island more recently hosted the filming of Alfredo Montero's 2014 horror thriller La cueva (The Cave). The San Valero cave, 355 meters long and one of the largest on the island, becomes in this film an unknown cave that five unwary vacationers decide to explore. What they discover inside will spoil your appetite if you're not used to the genre, or at least cure you of caving forever. A pity, because it's the only way to explore this magnificent cave. You'll need an expert guide if you want to attempt the expedition.
Escape to Formentera, even to the movies
Whatever the work, the island is always presented as a place of escape from the world. Could this be the key to learning to live together again? In Ann-Kristin Reyels' Formentera (2012), it's the couple Nina and Ben who try to rebuild their relationship during their vacation. In Pau Durà's Formentera Lady (2018), on the other hand, Samuel is an artist who settled in Formentera in the '70s, when British rock bands like King Crimson came to the island to recharge their batteries (true - their song Formentera Lady gives the film its name). It's only the arrival of his daughter and granddaughter, whom he's never met but now has to look after, that will shake up his daily life as a banjo-playing hippie musician.
As you'll have gathered, escape is a recurring theme in Formentera, perfectly suited to the beauty of its landscapes and sun-drenched beaches, which live to the rhythm of the waves. The ideal place to enjoy a moment of tranquillity and cinema.
