La Isla Bonita: How to spend the perfect weekend in Palma de Mallorca
Swap boozed-up Brits munching on fried
breakfasts for unique history, world-class beaches
and often-ignored mountains on the largest of the
Balearic Isles – then discover the city star of 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 CITYA 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 EASYCan 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.
