The Rough Guide to Mallorca 1 (Rough Guide Travel Guides) - Softcover

Lee, Phil

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1858287030 ISBN 13: 9781858287034

Publisher: Rough Guides, 2001

Synopsis

INTRODUCTION

Few Mediterranean holiday spots are as often and as unfairly maligned as Mallorca. The largest of the Balearic Islands, an archipelago to the east of the Spanish mainland which also comprises Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera, Mallorca is commonly perceived as little more than sun, sex, booze and high-rise hotels – so much so that there’s a long-standing Spanish joke about a mythical fifth Balearic island called "Majorca" (the English spelling) which is inhabited by an estimated eight million tourists a year. However, this image, spawned by the helter-skelter development of the 1960s, takes no account of Mallorca’s beguiling diversity.

Until well into the twentieth century, Mallorca was a sleepily agrarian backwater, left behind in the Spanish dash to exploit the Americas from the sixteenth century onwards. Mass tourism has reversed the island’s fortunes since World War II, bringing the highest level of disposable income per capita in Spain, but the price has been profound social transformation and the disfigurement of tracts of the coastal landscape. However, the spread of development is surprisingly limited, essentially confined to the Bay of Palma, a thirty-kilometre strip flanking the island capital, and a handful of mega-resorts notching the east coast. Elsewhere, Mallorca is much less developed than many other parts of Spain.

Palma, Mallorca’s capital and the Balearics’ one real city, is a bustling, historic place whose grandee mansions and magnificent Gothic cathedral defy the expectations of many visitors. To the east of Palma stretches Es Pla, an agricultural plain that fills out the centre of the island, sprinkled with ancient and seldom-visited country towns. On either side of the plain are coastal mountains. In the west and to the north, the rugged Serra de Tramuntana hides beautiful cove beaches, notably Cala de Deià and Platja de Formentor, and deep sheltered valleys. The range is crisscrossed with footpaths and makes for ideal hiking country, particularly in the cooler spring and autumn. Tucked away here too are a string of picturesque villages, such as Orient and Fornalutx, and a pair of intriguing monasteries at Valldemossa and Lluc. The gentler, greener Serres de Llevant shadow the coves of the east coast and culminate in the pine-clad headlands and medieval hill towns of the island’s northeast corner. There’s a startling variety and physical beauty to the land, which, along with the mildness of the climate, has drawn tourists to visit and well-heeled expatriates to settle here since the nineteenth century, including artists and writers of many descriptions from Robert Graves to Roger McGough.

About this title

About the Author

Phil Lee is an experienced Rough Guides author whose taste for adventure began when he joined the Danish merchant navy. He has written Rough Guides to Amsterdam, Brussels, Mallorca and Menorca, England, the Netherlands, and Canada.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

PRACTICALITIES

Access to Mallorca is easy from Britain and northern Europe, with plenty of charter flights and complete package deals, some of which drop to absurdly low prices out of season or through last-minute booking. From mainland Spain, both ferries and flights are frequent and comparatively inexpensive. The island has one airport and one major ferry port, both on the outskirts of the capital, Palma. From here, the rest of Mallorca is within easy striking distance by car it only takes a couple of hours to drive from one corner of the island to the other and to a large extent by public transport too.

The main constraint for travellers is accommodation. From mid-June to mid-September rooms are in very short supply. If you go at this time, you re well advised to make a reservation several weeks, sometimes months, in advance or to book a package. Out of season, things ease up and you can idle round, staying pretty much where you want. Two or three weeks are sufficient to see most of the island; on a shorter visit, head for Palma and the northwest coast. Bear in mind also that six of Mallorca s monasteries rent out renovated cells at inexpensive rates it s well worth sampling at least one.

CLIMATE

Spring and autumn are the ideal times for a visit, when the weather is comfortably warm, with none of the oven-like temperatures which bake the island in July and August. It s well worth considering a winter break too: even in January, temperatures are usually high enough during the day to sit out at a café in shirtsleeves. The island sees occasional rain in winter, however, and the Serra de Tramuntana mountains, which protect the rest of Mallorca from inclement weather and the prevailing northerly winds, are often buffeted by storms.

Edition details

• Publisher: Rough Guides
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1858287030
• ISBN 13: 9781858287034
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304