In Eivissa there is something quite unique, which is a monument that honours pirates. There is no other in the world, except for the one built by the British to honour Francis Drake, who had been a pirate, explorer, slave trader, politician and English vice admiral. He was also the second person to go around the world in a single voyage (after Elcano) and was considered in his day (the 16th century) a pirate by the Spaniards and a hero by the English, since at this time both countries were at war over the control of commerce with the Indies. 

Going back to Eivissa, in 1915 an obelisk was unveiled as a tribute to the pirates by the people of Ibiza, because they had risked their lives so many times to protect the population. The first stone, however, was placed in 1906 (nine years earlier), on the 100th anniversary of the victory of the Ibiza schooner San Antonio and Santa Isabela, commanded by Antoni Riquer, over the ship with Gibraltaran flag, Felicity, whose captain was a famous Italian pirate known as 'il Papa'. He navigated at the time with a British letter of marque, and was much superior in men and weapons to the fierce Ibiza sailors. 

It is important to note that the difference between ordinary pirates and those who had letters of marque was that the latter took on military rank due to that document, which was a permit granted by a government that allowed them to sabotage, kidnap and plunder the maritime traffic of enemy nations. The letter of marque was like a contract granted for a determined length of time. Thus, their pirate activity was legalised. 

Antoni Riquer was born in Ibiza, at number 40 of Calle del Mar, in 1773, and he died in his home at Calle Mare de Déu in 1846. He came from a family of sailors and pirates: his father and his brother as well as himself. He became famous for capturing the ship Felicity. When he was 24 he had already enlisted on a boat. At 26, while on an official trip transporting barley from Ibiza to Barcelona, he was kidnapped by en English frigate, and was freed together with other sailors, including his own father, some days later. By the age of 33 he had become a legal pirate. 

His great feat began when one day, at dawn, the English brigantine Felicity was spotted near Formentera. It then passed near the port of Ibiza, aiming for the islet of Tagomago. So, Antoni Riquer, who was on land, got his boat and his crew ready and, once he'd gone to mass, went after the English ship. In spite of the clear disadvantage of his boat, he managed to catch up with the English ship and started the boarding by throwing bottles with a lit spark that would hit the enemy ship's gunpowder-filled deck and create a fire, forcing the crew to try to put it out instead of attacking. 

The Felicity surrendered but there were many deaths on both sides. Antoni's own father died in the battle. 

On the quayside of the port of Ibiza, and designed by the Catalan architect Augusto Font, can be found the monument to these legal pirates.