Mallorca

Mallorca, or Majorca is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The native language, as on the rest of the Balearic Islands, is Catalan, which is co-official with Spanish.

The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Balearic Islands have been an autonomous region of Spain since 1983.

Santa Maria de Palma cathedral

There are two small islands off the coast of Mallorca: Cabrera (southeast of Palma) and Dragonera (west of Palma).

Like the other Balearic Islands of Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera, the island is an extremely popular holiday destination, particularly for tourists from Germany and the United Kingdom.

A Beach at Peguera

The name derives from Classical Latin insula maior, “larger island”. Later, in Medieval Latin, this became Maiorica, “the larger one”, in comparison to Menorca, “the smaller one”.

Caricature artist Palma

You get a little feel for the island when you arrive at the airport, lots of English and Germans mainly on holiday for sun and cheap booze, but that’s fine, each to their own.

The places where the package-holiday hotels are situated are full of English type pubs, German type bars, fish-and-chips and wurst and whatever. There are some nice beaches here, but best to go out of season as they get packed in the high season.

If you want this or want to avoid this, then either go, or stay clear of the areas around Magaluf.

There are some great spots on the island, away from the tourist parts, really quiet and very scenic.

Travel is quite easy here as there are bus and coach networks, mostly running out of the capital Palma. This is another place that gets crowded with tourists, but, if you head away from the tourist area – mostly near the centre of town and by the beachside, then there are some really nice places.

A market in Mallorca

There are great bars and restaurants, some with rooftops (these don’t usually open until 4 or 5pm) and some lovely old alleyways and markets in and around the city.

The best way to see it is by walking around – get a map from the tourist office and explore, you’ll love it.

The traditional windmills above the port give an idea of how the city has evolved over time, whilst retaining some of the lovely old historic touches.

Mallorca windmill

City walls Palma

There is a really nice walk around the port with some pretty swanky reastaurants overlooking the port that serve some great seafood, some are really expensive, but look around and you will find some nice and reasonably priced eateries there too.