Mallorca · Balearic Islands · Spain
The Balearic gateway. Mallorca, Ibiza, Formentera, Menorca — one base, four islands.
01
The Balearic gateway. Palma's cathedral (La Seu) sits on the seawall, Gaudí touched it (he was hired to renovate the interior 1904–1914, fell out with the bishop, left a baldachin and a wrought-iron crown of thorns). The old town courtyards are Mallorca's under-the-radar pleasure — peer through the doorways of Carrer Sant Sadurní and Carrer Sant Bartomeu. The Es Baluard contemporary museum is in the old artillery bastion.
02
Forn Sant Joan for the long Mallorcan lunch. Marc Fosh (one Michelin star) for the evening. Bar España, behind the cathedral, for the morning ensaïmada and a coffee — the spiral pastry that Mallorcans eat for breakfast. Sobrasada (the cured paprika sausage), Mahón cheese, Binissalem and Pla i Llevant DO wines.
03
Romans first; the Moors took the island in 902 and held for three centuries — the Arabic baths (Banys Àrabs) in the old town are the only surviving structure. James I of Aragon conquered Mallorca in 1229. The Catalan-Aragonese centuries built the cathedral. The British Mediterranean fleet wintered here in the 19th century; the German tourism wave arrived in the 1960s; the boom hasn't fully stopped.
04
Mallorca's south-east coast — Es Trenc, Cala Mondragó — is the white-sand part. By boat: Dragonera island (25nm) off the western cape, uninhabited reserve, lighthouse, lizards; Formentera (90nm) — the smallest Balearic, the Illetes sandbar, the water you can see anchors in at 8m; Menorca's Cala Macarelleta (100nm) for the pine-fringed turquoise cove.
05
Drive the Tramuntana mountains — Valldemossa (where Chopin wintered with George Sand), Deià (where Robert Graves lived), Sóller (the orange-grove valley) — in a single day. The Sóller train (1912 wooden carriages) is the way to do it without a car. Avoid the Magaluf-Palmanova corridor west of Palma; the rest of the island has nothing to do with it.
Nearby
Island · Beach · Flat water
The smallest and quietest of the Balearics. The Illetes spit — a sandbar with two restaurants and water so flat you can see the anchor on the bottom in 8m.
Anchor north of the Illetes spit. The current runs through the channel — set the anchor properly. Formentera has one road, two villages, and a quality of light painters have been chasing for a century.
Nature reserve · Anchorage
An uninhabited island off Mallorca's western cape. Lizards (the ones the island is named for), osprey, and a lighthouse from 1850.
Anchor on the north or east side depending on wind. The ridge walk takes 90 minutes. No facilities — bring everything.
Beach · Cove
The beach at the end of a 20-minute walk through a pine forest. Turquoise water over white sand, surrounded by pine-covered limestone walls.
Anchor in 3–5m sand. Arrives by sea before the walking tourists at 11am. The next cove south (Macarelleta) is smaller and quieter still.
Wind & seasons
The Tramontane from the north and the Libeccio from the SW can both arrive with force. Summer is generally reliable from the NE. July and August are the most settled weeks. September is excellent.
