Island of contrasts Print E-mail
Written by Penny Kitchen, 2008   
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Mallorca has transcended its package holiday reputation to emerge as an upmarket Mediterranean destination where ordinary folk and Hollywood celebrities alike can enjoy nature, gastronomy and boutique shopping. Penny Kitchen paid this beautiful island a visit "I just came back from four lovely days in Mallorca," I said in reply to my hairdresser's customary opening gambit.

"Mallorca?!" Her scissors hovered mid-snip. "My boyfriend and I went there a couple of years ago. It was awful. Can't be the same place." Snip. "Nice weather and beaches..." Snip. "...but heaving with drunken hen parties and sweaty, sunburnt  blokes with tattoos and cans of lager - know what I mean?"

Sadly, I knew what she meant: the adjacent resorts of Magaluf (Shagaluf to those in the know) and Palma Nova, to the west of Palma, and Arenal to the east, with their magnificent beaches and massive development of high-rise hotels, have long attracted to the island package-holiday revellers.

But luckily, this is far from being the best or only face of Mallorca.

The real Mallorca is a gem, with everything from deserted rocky coastline with inlets of deepest blue to stunning mountain-top views where you will find nothing noisier than a braying donkey.

The inland plains are criss-crossed with miles of dry-stone walls, fields filled with olive and almond trees, and dotted here and there with windmills (there are estimated to be more than 900 of them).

Palma, the capital, is full of sunny squares, picturesque medieval streets, designer shops and bustling cafes, all overlooked by one of Europe's largest and most magnificent gothic cathedrals.

There are fantastic gourmet hotels to be found in the depths of the sparsely populated countryside and charming boutique hotels offering guests the feel of a secluded, private mansion, right in the middle of the Palma.

In the 33 years since I'd last set foot on the island, some things had undoubtedly changed mostly for the better - while the beauty of the scenery as you head northwards was as I remembered. I was enchanted.

Moorish capital

The biggest island of the Balearic archepelago. Mallorca is 3620 sq km or 1397 square miles (about 10 times the size of the Isle of Wight). Palma de Mallorca is Mallorca's only true city, overlooking a sweeping bay on the south of the island.

Known to the Romans as Palmeria or Palma, it became Medina Mayurka (City of Mallorca) to the Moors and by the 12th century it was a flourishing capital, continuing to prosper after it was conquered by the Christians, right up to the 16th century when the whole island began to drift into decline.

When I first visited Palma in 1975, my impression was of a grubby place, slightly down-at-heel. But tourism has brought prosperity and there is evidence of renovation and restoration everywhere.

Old facades must be preserved, but behind the scaffolding historic buildings are being turned into designer homes and boutique hotels.

Where once you could have bought a fisherman's house down near the harbour for a couple of thousand pounds, today they are desirable (i.e. expensive) real estate. It is said that quality properties in Mallorca are among the most expensive in Spain.

Strolling the streets in the old centre is a positive pleasure, especially if you take the time to look for hidden, plant-filled courtyards denoting the former residence of someone well-to-do.

Depending on which hotel you choose for your stay in Palma, you could find yourself enjoying a four-poster bed in a centuries-old manor house. The 16th-century Dalt Murada, for example, is owned by several generations of the same family who turned it into a character hotel.

Stuffed full of old Mallorcan furniture and paintings, it nevertheless has luxury 'mod cons' and a charming courtyard with lemon and orange trees where breakfast is served. Its hidden delight is a roof terrace where you look across to the towers of the cathedral.

A highlight of the city tour is the indoor market where I've seldom seen so many colourful fresh fruit and veg and fish like so many glistening jewels on ice! I lost count of the number of pastry shops and shoe shops that tempted me on my wanderings - one enterprising merchant proclaimed 'Shoes and Wine' a speciality!

Chopin trip

Today's tourists, whether headed for the mega-resorts in the south or seeking solitude and tranquillity deep in the countryside, don't usually return home from Mallorca disappointed. But in the 19th century two northern visitors hoping for a little R&R in the island's sunshine and healthy mountain air told a different story.

The composer Frederic Chopin and his French lover, the writer George Sand, stayed for several months in the former monastery at Valldemossa, high up in the foothills of the Serra de Tramuntana mountains.

The cloudless day of my visit was just what a consumptive pianist needed, I reflected. The view out over the peaks and valleys from Chopin's private gardens should have been truly inspirational, but apparently the weather was appalling and the Mallorquins less than smitten with the celebrities in their midst.

Poor Chopin's health deteriorated further and George Sand was driven to write an unflattering book about their miserable stay, which has been infamous on the island ever since.

The monastery, with its cells showing how the monks lived, and small Chopin museum, are a must-see if you visit Mallorca. Entrance includes a half-hour live piano recital of notable Chopin pieces in the former royal palace next door.

Even if you inevitably have to share this delightful village with coachloads of other visitors, it is well worth it. Valldemossa's cobbled streets reveal pretty flower-decked doorways, each with a plaque in supplication to the village's own saint, Santa Catalina Thomās.

One amazing shop displays dozens of small barrels of strange liqueurs that you are invited to taste for free; over-indulgence guarantees you will sleep on the coach back to your hotel!

While you are in the Serra de Tramuntana, do not miss Deiā, another spectacular village with views down to the coast. Uniquely situated on landscaped terraces up a hillside, La Residencia is the hotel of choice for countless royalty, film stars, supermodels and musicians - the list of past guests reads like Who's Who.

The views out over the rooftops of Deiā (where the poet Robert Graves is buried) are spectacular, the service and restaurant top-notch and the facilities (including luxurious suites with private pools) fit for the likes of Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, Harrison Ford and Gwyneth Paltrow.

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