Mallorca in one day
Arriving in the port of Alcudia large structures caught my eye and as I exited the port tourist shops aligned the street. It looks like the classic touristic town structured as such to approach all the tourists from the northern countries coming to enjoy some sun. We rented our car there from a local Spanish company and started driving towards the capital of Mallorca, Palma, where we would spent the night. We drove about an hour on a large highway, through huge traffic and fully urbanised centres; it felt like driving in a populated large city like Milan or London. Finally, after getting lost with all the roundabouts and multiple exits, high rise buildings and blocks of flats we found our hotel in the center of the town. A modern boutique hotel hidden in between the large block of flats and busy center, there was no sign of parking space. At first Mallorca felt more like a fully urbanised town and less like an island. I had the feeling I was driving in a cleaner (no graffities for sure) and prettier center of Athens.
The hotel was HM Balanquera(the downtown location), which was really nice and modern, all white and clean, with a very nice breakfast in the lounge. We spent the night in the old town for dinner and drinks, inside the medieval narrow streets, which was fun and different. The restaurant I won’t bother to mention as the food was not as worthy as advertised, but for drinks we went to Bar Abaco; an old mansion decorated with knicks and knacks and a lovely terrace. You can walk up the stairs to see the different rooms, each one accordingly decorated, like walking in a museum. It is very busy and touristic but is fun to see. Keep in mind pictures are forbidden.
The next day, before taking our flight back to London, we walked around the old town situated near the port and the fortress Bellveron the hill to admire the view. For starters the view was amazing; you could see all the city of Palma, the port and the boats. You can clearly see it is largely populated- Palma has 621,000 permanent residents- and a large amount of boats. If it is open it is worthy to visit the castle of Bellver, used as a residence and a fortress in the past, as with the views they could observe if an enemy was entering the port. On the hill there is a wonderful park for residents to enjoy their day and relax or exercise.
Mallorca used to be under Arabic influence before it was annexed by the kingdom of Córdoba and became Spanish and Christian. Someone can see the Arabic and Spanish influence all over the old town and its walls. Incredibly picturesque and beautiful you can spent hours visiting the different sights and walking its narrow streets. The cathedralis enormous and it took centuries to finish building. The art inside the church is from Antoni Gaudi. It is also worth seeing L’Almudaina, the Museum of Mallorca, the Monastery of Santa Clara and the Arabic baths, the only remaining Moorish symbol from the times.
The old town merges with the new town through Plaza Major square. Around the square the streets are lined with little cute shops and cafes.
Something else which was really worth it was driving through the Tramuntana mountainstowards the village of Valldemossa. One of the prettiest mountain villages I have seen; all houses built with local materials, mostly rocks, with green window panels and narrow streets adorned with little shops and cafes, most of them promoting the local pastry. Chopinalso spend some time here. People can visit his house.
We continued driving the mountainous coastline from village to village, passing through DeiaandSolleradmiring the wonderful views. The beaches seemed nice but not as pretty as Menorca or Greece. Through the road there is the villa of Son Marroig, which was of Archduke Luis Salvado, where there is a path leading to Sa Foradada beachafter an approx. 40min hike, the port of Sollerand Nautilus restaurant, where we ate fresh fish with amazing cliff hanging views. The food and environment was great and I recommend a visit if you are there.
To summarise, Mallorca had some beautiful parts, ideal to leave permanently-work and enjoy some fair Mediterranean weather at your downtime, however due to its size and urbanisation it didn’t have the island feeling of smaller Med islands.
