A Unique Travel Experience On An Extraordinary Spanish Island

The Island of Majorca is in the Western Mediterranean Sea, just off the east coast of Spain. It is a busy holiday island during the summer months but less crowded in winter and spring. Palma is the capital city of Majorca and it is a great place for shopping and doing a bit of sight seeing. It has a very special character.

We were staying in Palma Nova and being past the age when drinking beer all day in pubs and clubs, then sleeping it off on the beach seems a good way to spend a holiday, decided to find some 'civilized' life for a change.

Source:  Authors own picture.

There are buses from all round the Island into Palma. The City itself is big. Everything is so spread out in the modern part and we found ourselves walking a long way to find major department stores and designer shops on the main road. However, we eventually found a wonderful shopping area in the old Arab Quarter of the City.

This area is a maze of alleyways and small shops of all kinds. There are designer shops selling everything from shoes to hair accessories and woolly jumpers to delicate lingerie. It is very easy to get carried away here and I don't mean just by the shopping experience.

In among the alleyways there are a series of squares surrounded by cafes, restaurants and entertainers. Each time we arrived at one of these places the experience was a slower, more relaxed one. It was a real pleasure to sit at a table outside a café and watch what was happening in the square. We saw a 'living statue' which amused everyone by touching ladies with a stick after they had passed him. It was really funny as most were shocked and spun around to see who had done it. The ones who objected made the onlookers laugh even more.

There were musicians of all kinds and we were even treated to a wedding procession making its way to the Cathedral, accompanied by a band. These alleyways are too narrow for vehicles, so the bride and her entourage and groom with his walked on separate sides of the alleyways, accompanied by marching bands and fussy mothers trying to ensure that everything was correct.

Then it was back to the shopping. It is very easy to get lost here as the alleyways are rather like the Medinas in many Arab cities and we did get a little worried because we ended up in a part of the Quarter where there were no shops and we couldn't seem to find our way out. A glimpse of the sea led us out onto the seafront again, though.

This Quarter is not a safe area for tourists as it is easy to get lost. The advice we were given (after the event) was to look down alleyways and if there are no shops do not go down them. We did hear of several people being robbed in this area. However, if you stick to the rules it is a fabulous experience.

Palma Cathedral is huge. It is a must see if you are in the City but I found it quite commercialised because you had to pay for just about everything and access to much of it was closed off. A trip on an open topped bus was the easiest way to see the sites and the array of liners and very expensive yachts in the harbour was something quite awesome. There was one in particular that was said to be decorated with real gold fitments and a team of guards protected it. The story is that the yacht was built and named by a wealthy man, in honor of his lady love. They parted and the boat never left the harbor. Apparently someone stole one of the solid gold letters that made up the boat's name and since then it has been protected by armed guards. (Unfortunately,I cannot remember the name of the lady, or the boat.)

Palma is also where the old 1912 Wooden Train to Soller is based. A trip on this train will take you over the mountains to the north of the Island but it is slow and sometimes a little cold in the mountains as the coaches are open at the sides.. This is a worthwhile experience and one I would not have missed..

All buses stop around the railway station area which is easily accessible from the town centre, so the shops and sights of Palma are easy and convenient to get to no matter where you are on Majorca.

This tiny island is certainly worth visiting if you ever get the opportunity. The food is essentially Spanish but the people are uniquely Majorcan in the slow, easy going and friendly manner.