Mallorca: Spain In A Teacup

Spain is big. BIG! A great destination for a holiday, but unless you’ve a lot of time, you’ll only ever see a tiny slice of it.

But Mallorca, about 120 miles off the coast from Barcelona, has everything peninsular Spain has, just pushed closer together. You’ll find mountains, plains, caves, coves, marinas and the long sandy beaches that first made it famous, all on an island that’s only sixty odd miles top to bottom and side to side.

It’s also got Palma, a thousand-year-old Mediterranean capital that reminds me of the way Barcelona used to be years ago before it got developed and trendy (though Palma’s now getting pretty developed and trendy, too).

Palma is becoming an absolute favourite destination among the cities of the Mediterranean, small enough to walk across in an hour, big enough and sophisticated enough to support Michelin-starred restaurants, boutiques and art galleries, a thriving musical scene that embraces jazz, folk, rock and classical, and festive activities enough to keep anyone busy all day, all year.

And consider this if you’re thinking about a seaside holiday: From the craggy coves of the Costa Brava to the long, white sand beaches of the Costa del Sol is about 1,500 Km, 930 miles, a fair piece of distance to cover to change your beach scenery. On Mallorca you can do it in twenty minutes, and I’ll put the Mallorca beaches up against anything anywhere else in Spain can offer.

Just as Spain is Europe’s most popular holiday destination, Mallorca (“Majorca” to many) is Spain’s most popular tourist destination. Can twelve million visitors a year be wrong?

And no, the island doesn’t feel crowded, save in the big resorts in July and August. In other areas (like the ones our hotels are in) you can count on not seeing anything touristy. In fact, huge areas of the island are still authentic, still safe, still full of the charm that first brought people here, and caused many of them (us!) to stay to live.

So why should you come to Mallorca? Because there’s so much on offer to you in a relatively small place – stunning rugged mountains and dramatic sea cliffs, over a hundred beaches and hidden coves, historic valleys with ancient olive terraces, citrus groves and almond orchards, picturesque villages with authentic Spanish life.

Do you want activity? Hike or walk, climb or cycle, paint or potter, sail or scuba, swim or sunbathe, go admire birds of all varieties or whack a golf ball on twenty courses, from club to championship level.

And there’s nightlife – lots and lots of nightlife.

Best of all, there’s a solid infrastructure, built over four decades of taking care of visitors. This is something all the new destinations of the Med are struggling with, and something even fine old Spanish cities don’t have. What does it mean? It means you can get here on a choice of hundreds of shoestring-cost flights, that there are hotels and restaurants and activities for every wallet, from student to megayacht owner.

That means you can sup with the cognoscenti who count their Michelin stars, drink in star bars where the paparazzi lurk, sidle into places where the king hangs out (and he does, no foolin’) or you can come out here on small change, take advantage of all that’s free and go home having had a smashing time for next to nothing. 

So are there any downsides, apart from Arenal and Magaluf, the two giant tourist mega-resorts? (And even they have their charms.)

Only that you might get addicted. We came out here a dozen years ago looking for a part-time holiday home, a broken-down farmhouse to fix up to stay in from time to time to get away from our busy northern European life.

Some pipe dream! Beguiled by Mallorca’s variety, seduced by a seeming infinity of attractive choices, charmed by the people and their infectious enthusiasm for life, and the energy they invest in enjoying it, we slowly found ourselves drawn into a new and different way of living. We’ve never looked back and never regretted a moment (apart from the bureaucracy) and now we’d like to share some of what we’ve learned with you. We got a lot of our experience the hard and expensive way; I’m giving it to you gratis.

So come visit this lovely place. I’ll give you the best advice and help I can to make sure you enjoy it.   

People have asked about the photo we use at the top of all these web pages. It’s the view from all the private terraces of our Galilea mountain retreat hotel,
the ten properties being given away in our hotel voucher raffle,
about which there is information elsewhere on this site.

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