Vamos a la playa!
Majorca (Mallorca in Spanish) is the most popular of Spain’s Mediterranean islands, drawing millions of visitors each year. About 209km from Barcelona and 145km from Valencia, Majorca has a coastline 500km long. Palma comes as a surprise to many people – it is stylish, sophisticated, intimate yet bursting with life. Half of Mallorca’s population live here, enjoying the island’s best restaurants, shops and nightlife as well as a thriving arts scene and a lively cafe society. The cathedral, the Palace of Almudaina, the fish exchange, and Plaza Mayor are just some of the places where visitors must stop. Fishing boats, pine groves and palm trees complement the most beautiful monuments. The capital of the island of Majorca, famous for its beaches and beautiful sea, has a beautiful historic quarter, deeply marked by history. The beautiful island is an explorer’s paradise in its exterior, although horribly overbuilt along certain coastal regions.
The coastal landscape of the island is graced with coves, beaches, and cliffs. A beautiful, diverse landscape, as well as a rich cultural life, are most inviting to a journey through every last inch of Majorca, as well as through the pleasures of its excellent cuisine.
Mallorca’s most popular hiking trail is the climb from the town of Alaro up to a ruined castle and hilltop chapel, which offers panoramic views of the sea and plains as far as Palma. From Alaro the walk takes about two hours to complete. The castle ruins on the hilltop date from the 15th century and dominate the landscape. At the summit there is a restaurant and bar to refresh weary climbers.
The golden sands of Majorca are famous, with lovely beaches such as Can Pastilla and El Arenal, but they tend to be overcrowded with sun worshippers on package tours. There are several good, though usually crowded, beaches accessible by bus from Palma. El Arenal, seven miles (11km) to the southeast of the city, attracts many German visitors as is reflected along its waterfront in the signs on restaurants, bars and hotels. The long beach boasts white sands and turquoise water. Palma Nova and Illetes, between six and ten miles (10 and 16km) to the southwest, are smaller but equally popular beaches. On the road to Palma Nova is Marineland, offering dolphin, sea lion and parrot shows as well as Polynesian pearl-diving demonstrations. The most popular beach on the entire island of Mallorca, Es Trenc, on the southeast coast between Cap de Salinas and Cap Blanc, can be reached by bus from the Plaza Espanya in Palma with departures three times a day. The local tourist office distributes an information leaflet on 40 beaches in the Palma area.
The glory of Palma – a magnificent Gothic cathedral whose sandstone walls and flying buttresses seem to rise out of the sea. You enter through a side door, passing a small museum, head for the west portal and gaze down the long nave. Light pours in through the rose window, one of the world’s largest, 12m across and studded with 1,236 pieces of stained glass. The columns are ringed with wrought-iron candelabra by Gaudi; his most controversial addition is the unfinished Crown of Thorns, fashioned from cardboard and cork and suspended above the altar. It dominates the waterfront and backs on to the old part of the city where medieval and later churches are found along with Renaissance buildings like the City Hall and the stately homes with their beautiful patios. The maze of streets at the back of the cathedral leads to the beautiful Banys Arabs, the old Moorish bath house, which is also worth a visit.
