Mallorca

Superb beaches, good food, usually nice weather, historic remains… An island full of history and life that you can easily enjoy from Barcelona.

The island, a walk through different cultures

Majorca (Mallorca in Spanish and Catalan) is the largest island of Spain. The name derives form the Latin insula maior "larger island", becoming later Maiorica.

Mallorca has been inhabited since antiquity. However, it flourished under Roman rule. Because of its privileged geographic position, Palma was able to have important dealings with traders from the Maghreb, Italian domains and the Turkish Empire and they helped to make this a golden era for the city. In La Lonja there was a busy commodity exchange market supervised by the Consolat de Mar to ensure that all commercial transactions complied with the laws in force at the time.

The present position of the city of Palma (the capital) is believed to have been originally occupied by a talayotic settlement closely associated with the sea. The city conserves evidence of those periods in monuments such as the Almudaina Palace and the Arab baths.

The Cathedral, one of the most emblematic sites of the city, is a Roman Catholic building, designed in the French Gothis style. It was built on the site of an existing Arab mosque. Fifty years after a restoration of the Cathedral had started, Antoni Gaudí was invited in 1901 to take over the project. While some of his ideas were adopted, he abandoned his work in 1914 after an argument with the contractor.

The traditional cuisine

Olives and almonds are typical od the Mallorcan diet. The island now has over 4 million almond and olive trees. Among the food items that can be truly stated as being Mallorquin are sobrassada, arros brut a version of paella which is generally saffron rice cooked with chicken, pork and vegetables and, for the sweet lover, ensaïmada.

Nowadays

The beginning of the 1950´s marked the prelude of the tourist phenomenon which was to change the physiognomy of the city and the entire island, transforming it into a centre of attraction for visitors with a sociological interchange of cultures. Since then the growth of tourism in the Balearics has been spectacular.

The island has many attractions for its visitors, such as the Bellver Castle, a circular castle on a hill near Palma de Mallorca that was used as a military prison during the 18th and 19th centuries; the Coves del Drach, incredible caves with a depth of 25 meters below the surface and a subterranean lake inside; charming villages such as Fornalutx or Valldemossa, etc.