La Isla Bonita: How to spend the perfect weekend in Palma de Mallorca

When the likes of the Spanish royal family, the actor Michael Douglas and the entrepreneur Richard Branson flock to own property on an island, you know it must be special.

And the Spanish Balearic charmer of Mallorca is seriously special. Yes, Mallorca overflows with crowd-pleasing beach resorts, but you can forget the anachronistic images of package holiday excess that you might have seen in glossy brochures – as it’s also home to Michelin-starred restaurants, slick A-List hideaways and the great Mediterranean city of Palma de Mallorca.

The story of Mallorca reads like a who’s who of the Mediterranean’s past. Germanic tribe the Vandals snatched the island in 526, before it succumbed to the Byzantines in 534. Then came the civilisation whose delicious influences charm the island today – the Moors, who’d taken the isle by 903.

Spanish kings took a keen interest next, bringing it into the mainland fold, though Mallorca is still run with a strong degree of autonomy so don’t expect a carbon copy of Spain. Mallorca is defiantly different, with its own culture, traditions and language – Mallorquín, a dialect of Catalan.

The arrival of cheap jet travel and mass tourism in the 1960s to an island with 300 days of sunshine a year had a massive impact, but Mallorca has stepped back from the worst excesses of the 1980s and rebranded itself into a classy destination.

New development is strictly controlled and the worst offending hotels in Magaluf have been torn down, turning the resort into a microcosm of an island that has stepped up its game.

This once notorious resort is now dubbed the Costa Calvia, transforming its image with multi-million investment from the Meliá hospitality brand. Think Nikki Beach with lobster and DJ sets by day rather than two-for-one drinks offers.

The largest of the Balearics and seventh largest island in the Mediterranean is no bijou one-trick pony. This size allows it to absorb the millions of sun-seekers who arrive every year at one of Spain’s busiest airports.

They come for its 50km necklace of beaches, from the resort sands of Platja de Alcudia to the rugged escape of Formentor. This is an island of peaks too – elite cyclists flock to tackle the Tramuntana mountains. In short, Mallorca is the Mediterranean island idyll writ large.

PARADISE CITY
A decade or so ago, most visitors swerved the island’s capital, Palma de Mallorca. But today it’s unmissable, having transformed itself into a top city-break destination. No wonder The Sunday Times acclaimed it one of the world’s best places to live.

Swathes of stone streets in its old town are brought to life with dynamic cafés and gardens, palaces and dazzling white churches. It’s a wonder for living in and for sightseeing.

Head up to Hotel Almudaina’s rooftop terrace, Sky, to appreciate the spire-studded skyline and another reason to visit Mallorca – world-class food and seriously underrated island wine. Barman Pedro recommends QBC, a crisp white wine made from the local Giro Blanc grape.

“The name translates as ‘what a good wine’ – which is fitting for what is a remarkable city,” he says. “I recommend starting a visit where our heart is – Gaudi’s Cathedral of Mallorca.”

The mercurial Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi – the man behind Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia – left his own modernist touch on an edifice first built as a mosque in 1601.

Admire the towering flying buttresses before heading inside to take in the ornate stained-glass interior and the soaring 44m-high nave – said to be the largest of any Gothic cathedral.

The other Palma must-see is the 14th- century Royal Palace of La Almudaina, a tantalising legacy of the Moors. Think remarkable tilework, graceful lines and enticing shady spaces shrouded in trees. Once a fortified Moorish palace, today it’s the official residence of the Spanish royals when they’re in town.

Palma looks and feels like one of Spain’s finest cities. There is a Rambla, just like Barcelona’s famous pedestrian boulevard; exploring the lanes north of the cathedral brings you to shop-lined streets reminiscent of Cordoba, and when you emerge among the pavement cafés of the spacious Plaza Mayor, you’ll think you’re in Madrid.

TAPAS AND TORTILLAS
In Palma the threads of history and archaeology are always interwoven with food and drink. Pepe from Food Tours Mallorca says: “Our food and drink is our soul – miss it and you miss the real Palma.”

His tours explore the less-visited Jewish Quarter and its web of old workshops. Walking around here feels like being inside a museum – a life-affirming open-air one.

Small plates are always on Pepe’s menu. “Tapas is as popular here as it is in Seville. And it’s just as good,” he says. At Ombu, perfectly stored and sliced Bellota ham is the star. La Rosa Vermuteria is one of the city’s new wave of tapas haunts serving vermouth, and it treats tourists as well as it does locals, serving classics like croquettes and tortilla with a runny centre.

The island boasts a dozen Michelin stars since 2024’s round of awards. The top chef Marc Fosh – the star of the new TV series, World of Cruising TV – has his eponymous eatery here,
which foodies visit for multi-course tasting menus. While the chef is English at heart, he’s deeply creative and passionate about local produce – so he’s Mallorca on a plate.

“The gastronomic scene is developing into something special with an exciting crop of local chefs coming through,” he says. “There is a real passion right now for all those fantastic, local ingredients that we have always had, but didn’t know to feed to the outside world.”

TAKING IT EASY
Can Pere Antoni beach on the capital’s eastern outskirts is a local favourite at weekends, as you can swim with a view of the cathedral.

Taking a train ride back through time is an even more romantic experience. The Soller service from Palma eases out of a cute old-world station. It doesn’t take long to shake off the urban sprawl – car horns and tarmac are replaced by bountiful olive trees and lemon orchards. Scent fills the air as you lose yourself in the other Mallorca.

The engines forge on into the foothills of the rugged Unesco world heritage Village listed Tramuntana mountains, a range that stretches across the island’s northern limits.

Mallorca overflows with postcard- perfect towns and villages too. If you’ve time to visit only one, make it Valldemossa, just half an hour’s drive north of Palma. It’s all here – empty skies, hills and cobalt Mediterranean waters.

The village is richly endowed with medieval architecture, a highlight of which is the Royal Carthusian Monastery; envy the monks who each had his own garden terrace, scented with fragrant magnolia.

Stroll the cobbled streets in the footsteps of novelist George Sand and composer Frederic Chopin, who became lovers on Mallorca and spent the winter of 1838 tucked away in paradise.

It’s hard not to be inspired – feel a whiff of romance as you weave through the village’s labyrinthine alleys, stopping off in the cafés and sifting through boutiques. Feel the Mediterranean writ large; feel Mallorca.

Get on board
Explora Journeys’ 11-night Journey of Sangria, Saints and Salsa Soirées aboard Explora II, return from Barcelona via Malaga, Lisbon, Tangier, Gibraltar, Valencia and Palma de Mallorca, departs on October 25, 2024, from £3,995 per person.