Spain Guide
The Balearic Islands
Deià
The beautiful village of DEIÀ is poised where the mighty Puig des Teix mountain ramps down to the coast. Doubling as the coastal highway, Deià's main street skirts the base of the Teix, showing off most of the village's hotels and restaurants. At times, this thoroughfare is too congested to be much fun, but the tiny heart of the village, tumbling over a high and narrow ridge on the seaward side of the road, still preserves a surprising tranquillity. Here, labyrinthine alleys of old peasant houses curl up to a pretty country church, in the precincts of which stands the grave of Robert Graves, the village's most famous resident.
Graves' old home, Ca N'Alluny (Tues– Sun 10am–5pm; €5; timed visits by advance reservation on 971 636 185, www.fundaciorobertgraves.com), a substantial stone building 500m east of the village, was opened to the public in 2006.
Cala de Deià, the nearest thing the village has to a beach, comprises 200m of shingle at the back of a handsom rocky cove of jagged cliffs, boulders and white-crested surf. A delightful thirty minutes' stroll away, it's a great place for a swim, the water clean, deep and cool, and there's a ramshackle beach bar.
Accommodation options include the unassuming 
Pensión Miramar, a traditional house a short, steep walk up above the main road at c/Ca'n Oliver s/n (971 639 084; www.pensionmiramar.com; closed Dec– April; €71-100); the rooms are unadventurous but perfectly adequate, and there are smashing views over the village from the terrace. Deià also possesses the lovely Es Moli, in an immaculately maintained building with superb gardens overlooking the main road at the west end of the village (971 639 000, www.esmoli.com; closed Nov– March; €201-250).
As for eating, you're spoilt for choice. Cafés and restaurants along the main street include Sa Font Fresca (closed Sun), which offers reasonably priced tapas and bocadillos, and the Restaurant Jaime (971 639 029; closed Mon), which offers mouthwatering Mallorcan cuisine.