May 15 – 18

After seeing Beverly off to the airport, Francois, Joanna and I took our own taxi to Barcelona International for our one-hour flight on Ryan Air to Palma (Parma), the capital city of the island of Majorca (Mallorca).  Our round-trip fare would run $332 which also included one checked bag and the ability to choose our seats, a premium over the lower base fare. 

The flight went smoothly and after claiming our bags we engaged a taxi to  get us close to our lodging for the duration, that is Next to Plaza Mayor Airbnb which would run us $855 for four nights, split between the three of us.  Roughly $71 apiece and a bit pricey, it was a great location in the heart of the pedestrian zone.  Our taxi dropped us off near Placa Mayor and we walked a short distance there and hungry, we chose a table at one of the restaurants operating in the plaza for a nice afternoon snack. 

We started with a pitcher of Sangria, a welcome relief on a warm afternoon and used it to wash down an order of meatballs and one of roasted potatoes (patatas bravas) for a total of 21 Euros ($23).  It would end up filling us nicely, so much so that we for dinner we would just dip into food we would buy at the nearby Mercadona, especially a few bottles of wine for less than five Euros apiece. 

The next day we set out to explore a bit and the island not being covered by St. Steves, we used the GPSmyCity app which can be found on Apple and Google Play.  We started with the City Introduction Walk which coincidentally began not far from Plaza Mayor.  We started by walking up Carrer de Sant Miguel, the street in front of the Airbnb and continued some number of blocks to Plaza de Espana, the nerve center of Mallorca.  It is the location of the city’s modern Estacion Intermodal, the terminal for most buses and train. 

Prominent in the Plaza is a statue of James 1, the 13^th century king of Argao, aka The Conqueror who took Mallorca from Aba Yahya, the Almohad governor, in September of 1229.  We then reversed course back down Carrer de Sant Miguel and stopped in at Basílica de Sant Miquel de Palma, considered one of the oldest churches in Palma.  It occupies the site of a former mosque, and on December 31, 1229, as a consecrated Christian church, the first Mass within the city walls was celebrated there.

Continuing down the street our next stop was at Fundació Juan March Palma, which houses works from artists like Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Salvador Dalí, Juan Gris, Antoni Tàpies and Miquel Barceló in a traditional 17th century stately home named Can Gallard del Canyar, which was acquired by the March family in 1916 to establish its residency in Palma.  We spent about an hour here, it’s a lovely building, examining the artwork, finally exiting down the street, through Plaza Mayor and heading downhill towards the harbor. 

We landed on Carrer de Jaume II stopping in at Restaurante Tramuntana, where there was a line for its selection of tapas and pinchos.  We sampled a hearty representation and along with a couple of beers, finished up in a highly satisfactory mood with a final tab of 30 Euros ($33), so much so that it carried us through the rest of the afternoon in fine fashion. 

Leaving the restaurant, we made our way to Passeig des Born (Born Passage) which for more than one hundred years, this tree-lined street has held feasts, demos, events and peaceful strollers.  The promenade was built over the riverbed of the Riera torrent which once divided the city, and it extends to the Queen’s Square (Placa de la Reina) and eventually joins the Paseo Maritimo which will lead to Juan Carlos I Square, a main commercial spot of Palma.  With a nice view of the harbor in sight, we paused there to take a couple of pictures, and worked our way down below the Royal Palace of La Almudaina, dodging the many street vendors that heavily populate this area, hoping to sell what are likely cheap knock offs from overseas to naïve tourists.

Indeed, Mallorca is one of the most popular tourist spots in Europe, with over 19 million visitors projected for the Balearic Islands in 2025.  The primary markets are Germany (40%) and the UK (26%), followed by Scandinavians, French, and Swiss.  The island experiences extreme overtourism, with roughly 29 tourists per resident as of 2024.  So, our early May visit, although quite crowded was still just a glimpse of what it might be like during peak periods. 

We opted not to visit the Palace, which is s one of the official residences of the Spanish royal family.   Originally an Arab fortress, major alterations were made at the beginning of the 14th century.  The current castle, of Roman origin, is a modification of the Muslim alcázar begun in 1281, it lasted until 1343, during the reigns of James II of Majorca, Sancho of Majorca and James III of Majorca.  La Almudaina was the seat of the prosperous Majorcan kingdom of 14th century, until passing to the Crown of Aragon with Peter IV in 1349.

Another sight to behold, and also one we would not visit this time around is Palma Cathedral (Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma, more commonly referred to as La Seu).  The site of the cathedral was occupied by a mosque under Muslim rule.  It is Gothic in style and it’s rose window, with a diameter of nearly 14 meters, is the second-largest extant Gothic rose window, while its 44-meter-high nave is the eighth highest in the world.  It is said that when James I of Aragon was in grave danger on his way to conquer the Balearic Islands in 1229, his fleet of ships was overtaken by a violent storm. 

In peril of foundering, young James swore to God that if he survived and conquered Mallorca, he would build there a great cathedral.  God held him to it and construction began in 1230 and went on for 350 years.  Finally, the nave and the main portal, the last elements, were finished.  The dimensions of the church are vast: width, 108 feet; height, 145 feet; length, 361 feet.  We’ll pause here and pick up the rest of our day in the next post. 

Links

Next to Plaza Mayor Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1147861?source_impression_id=p3_1770657396_P3aNQ8l4vnozt2D5

GPSmyCity: https://www.gpsmycity.com/gps-tour-guides/palma-de-mallorca-4170.html

Basílica de Sant Miquel de Palma: https://visitpalma.com/en/dir/iglesia-de-sant-miquel-saint-michaels-parish-church/

Fundació Juan March Palma: https://www.march.es/es/palma

Restaurante Tramuntana: https://restaurantetramuntana.com/

Royal Palace of La Almudaina: https://www.patrimonionacional.es/en/visita/royal-palace-la-almudaina

Palma Cathedral: https://catedraldemallorca.org/ca/