Spain Guide
The Balearic Islands
Mallorca
Few Mediterranean holiday spots are as often and as unfairly maligned as MALLORCA, commonly perceived as little more than sun, sex, booze and high-rise hotels. However, this image, spawned by the helter-skelter development of the 1960s, takes no account of Mallorca's beguiling diversity. Yes, there are sections of coast where high-rise hotels and shopping centres are continuous, wedged beside and upon one another. But the spread of development, even after fifty years, is surprisingly limited, essentially confined to the Badia de Palma (Bay of Palma), a thirty-kilometre strip flanking the island capital, and a handful of mega-resorts notching the east coast.
Elsewhere, things are very different. Palma itself, the Balearics' one real city, is a bustling, historic place with grand mansions and a magnificent Gothic cathedral. And so does the northwest coast, where the rearing peaks of the rugged Serra de Tramuntana cosset beautiful cove beaches, and delightful old towns and villages like Deià, Sóller and Pollença. Tourists have visited here, and well-heeled expatriates settled, since the nineteenth century, including artists and writers from Robert Graves to Roger McGough.
Palma lies at the hub of an extensive public transport system, with bus services linking the capital to all Mallorca's principal settlements and even a couple of train lines – one, a beautiful ride up through the mountains to Sóller, is an attraction in itself. And with your own transport, Palma is within two hours' drive of anywhere on the island. The main constraint for travellers is accommodation, or lack of it, though out of season things ease up and you can idle round, staying pretty much where you want. Bear in mind also that several of Mallorca's former monasteries rent out renovated cells at exceptionally inexpensive rates – reckon on €25–50 per double room per night. The Monastir de Nostra Senyora at Lluc and the Ermita de Nostra Senyora del Puig outside Pollença are both reachable via public transport.