Around The World Without Flying: Palma, Mallorca

Before we visited the cathedral in Palma, we headed up one of the hills beyond the city to view Bellvere Castle, an old sandstone castle that was built on top of the hill a few hundred years ago. This castle apparently is unique in Spain because it is a circular castle.

Like other places along the region of the Mediterranean, Mallorca was occupied by the Romans more than 2000 years ago, then by the Moors for several hundred years. Eventually, one of the Spanish Kings was determined to drive the Moors out, and as a result of his conquests, the island of Mallorca and nearby cities on the mainland became Christian. The King granted Mallorca independence, but liked to visit it. In fact, the palace was initially built as summer palace for his wife, because summers on Mallorca are more balmy and pleasant than on the mainland. Sadly, however, his cousin killed him in a battle and seized control of the island. The palace then was used a prison.

We had a very interesting time wandering around the palace and admiring the lovely views from the top. It is now used for events like weddings and concerts, and indeed when we were there chairs and a stage and lighting were laid out ready for a concert.

Whilst we enjoyed the panoramic views, our very informative guide told us that the island is about 60 km long. Because it has such a busy port, there are no swimming beaches in Palma. However, around the coastline there are about 200 luxury beach resorts. The island is so popular that the airport is extremely busy. Planes from all over the world land at the rate of about one every two minutes!

After the castle, we visited a place where jewellery is created from Mallorca pearls, which are well-known throughout the world. Mallorca pearls are not natural pearls, or even cultured pearls, but they are created from natural materials. Each pearl starts off as a bead that has been produced by melting a pearl-like mineral and letting the molten liquid form little drops. Each approved solidified drop is then dipped into a cream containing finely powdered mother-of-pearl from various shells. As soon as the bead is lifted out of the cream and exposed to the air, the cream solidifies into a layer of pearl. This process is repeated many times. It was amazing to see how many different colours of ‘pearls’ could be made using this process.

Over the road from the pearl place we saw a bullring. While bull-fighting has been banned for many years in Barcelona, and the bullrings there have been converted into a centre containing shops, cinemas, and so forth, the bullring in Palma is still used, mostly at night.

After that we visited the cathedral then had about half an hour’s free time, which I mostly used to walk around taking photos.

This was a very attractive city with a range of building styles and beautiful gardens. With all the outdoor cafes along the waterfront and around city squares, historical buildings, popular shops, fountains and gardens, bright blue seas and great weather, it was no surprise it is a very popular tourist destination.