Spain map illustration with a man and a woman.

#SmilingCities
Mallorca

The Mediterranean comes in something more than its liquid format. It is also a lifestyle, with sky and feelings. Maybe Mallorca is one of the places most capable of condensing all that. Certainly it’s one of the best places for just letting yourself be carried along by life in the street, on the beach, in the countryside: the open air, what’s authentic, and the blue beauty of this island paradise.

The bravest among us are capable of exploring the whole island on foot. Are you up for becoming an adventurous walker?

Google Map of Mallorca

Illustration of a map of Mallorca with drawings of interesting things about the place

Eating and drinking

Carrer Vell, 4 - Valldemossa

The QuitaPenas is there because destiny decreed it.

An old 19th-century store, closed since 1978, was discovered by two men from Turin, Alessandro and Massimo. They decided to preserve the materials and furniture so as to create a unique space, where they have developed pa amb oli (bread with oil, in the local language) one of the most iconic of Mallorcan dishes. The bread part of it is creatively adorned with very tasty touches, and there are options for vegans.

They’ve been in Valldemosa since 2019 and will probably be there a lot longer.

https://www.quitapenasvalldemossa.com/

Photography of Quitapenas Valldemossa store products

Photograph of the Quitapenas Valldemossa store

Photograph of the decoration of the Quitapenas Valldemossa store

Plaça de l'Olivar - Palma

You knew it: in each city we visit, we end up exploring the market, something we feel is a sign of support for what’s authentic in that place.

Imagine an endless party with what’s most glorious from sea. Add to that vegetables and choice meats and your mouth will start watering.

https://www.mercatolivar.com/es/inicio/

Carrer de la Concepció, 12 - Palma

Chef Andreu Genestra, whose other restaurant has a Michelin star, has opened Aromata in a small palace in the center of Palma to present even more haute cuisine.

Each dish is a painting; each flavor a challenge; each texture a happy ending. It’s a culinary trip all over Mallorca aboard your own palate.

http://aromatarestaurant.com/

Illustration of people at a table having something from the vinyl library

Carrer de l'Argenteria, 14 - Palma

A question: is there anything better than combining a good vinyl record with a good wine? No? Thanks.

And that’s why you’ll understand the idea behind La Viniloteca, the project of Javier Vegas and Aldana Areco. We’re talking about a place dedicated to music and wine, but with an added touch: these are natural, local wines.

They opened in the old part of Palma with a combination of what they like and something that’s different from the normal tourist offering, and it all works.

https://www.laviniloteca.shop/

Photograph of the decoration of the Vinyl Library.

Dins Santi Taura Restaurant Food Illustration

Plaça de Llorenç Villalonga, 4 - Palma

There are many different restaurants, but one of the key pieces in the Mallorcan gastronomic puzzle is in Palma, in the Calatrava neighborhood.

It is there that Santi Taura has earned a Michelin star by serving local recipes elevated to the modern stratosphere. Between that and the views, you’ll want to put down roots.

https://www.dinssantitaura.com/

Carrer dels Angels, 11 - Selva

You’re wrong. It is not bothersome to live in the interior of a Mediterranean island. It’s something different, life takes in a special rhythm.

It’s most suited to connoisseurs, who know that it’s worth visiting Selva, even if just to sample the seasonal menus of Marga Coll.

A family operation that aims high but is appropriate for almost any budget.

http://miceli.es/ Miceli Restaurant Food Illustration

Carrer de les Minyones, 2 - Palma

Photograph of the owner of the Merendero Minyones sandwich shop

If there were a luxury restaurant serving what’s simple, authentic and close by, it would be the Merendero Minyones.

Sandwiches, with bread to die over, and juicy, tasty meats served in the local style. If fast food were also delicious, it’s name would be Minyones.

Decades making the perfect sandwich, as if that were easy.

https://www.facebook.com/merenderominyonesmallorca/

Carrer de Sant Joan, 1 - Palma

Imagine turning a cocktail bar into a museum. Well, that’s sort of what has been done at Ábaco, a place for mixed feelings where you don’t know where the kitsch begins and where the glamor ends; where the ornamental starts and where the sincere decor finishes.

And above all: wonderful cocktails earn this place a must for visiting.

https://bar-abaco.es/

Carrer del Barranc, 45 - Palma

It’s one of the craziest offerings on the island. We’re talking about a restaurant in an historical setting.

But not just any historical setting: it’s a network of limestone tunnels that descend 36 meters.

Yes, the restaurant serves local cooking, and no, that doesn’t include the stalactites.

http://cuevasdegenova.com/en/ Illustration of a person at the entrance to the caves of Genoa

La Rosa Vermutería & Colmado

In Mallorca, it’s always the right time to share the expansive Mediterranean character, the one that urges you to enjoy street life, the people and, in this case, vermouth!

This is not just a place to have an aperitif. It’s a wonderful spot to sample dishes based on anchovies, or some scrambled eggs with butifarra (sausage) from Perol, or some pickled quail with black garlic.

It’s a very pleasant place, and if it’s always crowded that’s because it deserves to be.

http://www.larosavermuteria.com/es

Photograph of one of the windows of La Rosa Vermutería & Colmado

Plaça de Weyler, 9 - Palma

The history of any place involves its breads and pastry.

At Fornet de la Soca (Antic Forn del Teatre) they decided to become custodians of the local traditional bread and pastry recipes.

It’s not just that the ensaimadas are glorious, it’s that while you are sampling them you’re also learning a little about the history of the place.

https://fornetdelasoca.com/

Photograph of the Fornet de la Soca gate

Photograph of Pikolinos women's sandals in a window of the Ca'n Boqueta restaurant

Illustration of the food of the Ca'n Boqueta restaurant

Gran Vía, 43 - Sóller

The Michelin guide has a category for restaurants, Bib Gourmand, where you can eat very well without spending a fortune.

One of them is in Sóller, reachable after a hike. Ca’n Boqueta offers menus with seasonal products that change with the market, and where the audacity of Kiko Martorell is the guiding light beside the trail.

http://www.canboqueta.com/

Strolling

There are a number of art galleries in this setting, precisely in the central Plaza de Frédéric Chopin.

So if you visit it, between Gallery Red, the Gerhardt Braun, Galería Pelaires and –one street away– the SOHO Gallery and a few others, you can spend a whole day.

But there will be very little walking to cover all this ground, and that’s about the only thing that bothers us.

Photograph of the Soho Gallery in Fréderic Chopin Square

Photograph of the interior of the Soho Gallery

Illustration of the sea park with the cathedral

Photograph of a pair of Pikolinos women's sandals in the park by the sea with the cathedral in the background

We’re not going to recommend a visit to the cathedral because we know you’re going to visit it anyway. And you should.

But we want to stress its surroundings, the way they are ordered, and that unique play of light, water, stone and history: it makes sunsets as epic as crowning the Tourmalet peak in the Tour de France bike race.

If you ask a child to draw an ideal Mediterranean setting, nine times out of ten that child will paint the bay of Port de Sóller.

This hideaway of calm waters, with its yacht basin, fishing port and restaurant that serves up just about everything from the sea, is a kind of spiritual spa.

It’s a perfect place for communicating with everything around you.

Photograph of all the sea views of the port of Sóller

Photograph of a pair of Pikolinos sandals for men with a monument of the port of Sóller in the background

Plaça de la Llotja, 5 - Palma

There are buildings that almost instantly tell you the history of a whole city.

Sa Llotja is a Gothic marvel from the 15th century, with four separate naves separated by six helicoidal columnas.

Between the spaces, the windows and the facades, there is a large part of Mallorca’s architectural legacy, and of course that’s worth a visit.

Illustration of the Mallorca fish market

Photograph of the entrance and architecture of the fish market in Mallorca

Experimenting

Photograph of the Sóller railway conductor driving.

Plaça d'Espanya, 6 - Sóller

One of the pleasures of Mallorca is to discover the whole island, in every direction.

At Sóller you can board an historic 1912 train that will carry you to Palma de Mallorca or, if you prefer, you can take the tram from the same station and then get off at the marvelous Port de Sóller.

This tram also dates from 1912 and is the best way to take in a little history while traveling through orchards and fruit trees along the way.

Image of a sign on the Sóller railway that says “forbidden to speak to the driver”

Av. de Jaume III, 12 - Palma

Photograph of Pikolinos women's sandals in the street

Photograph of several Pikolinos women's sneakers from the Pikolinos Mallorca store

Photograph of the interior of the Pikolinos Mallorca store

Photograph of the interior of the Pikolinos Mallorca store with many women's models from the collection

We’re going to play a trick here. We’re going to mention a cove that represents all the other ones. It’s like sending Chanel to the Eurovision contest to sing for all of us, but in the paradisiacal cove style.

This is shining sand. These are unending transparent waters. The coves on Mallorca reach a whole new level.

Illustration of the Chopin I George Sand museum building

Plaza Cartuja, 9 - Valldemossa

There are many reasons for climbing to the beautiful town of Valldemosa, and one of them is to visit the room where Frédéric Chopin and his beloved George Sand once stayed.

It is located in the Real Cartuja de Valldemossa, and it was here that the composer created some of his preludes, a polonaise and other works that today are part of classical music history.

And yes: the piano he worked on is still here.

http://www.celdadechopin.es/

Ctra. Sóller, 6 - Deià

If geniuses came to live in Mallorca there was certainly a reason.

Robert Graves, the author of masterpieces like I, Claudius, established himself here in a beautiful villa next to an even more beautiful cove in Deiá, with endless views of the blue Mediterranean.

Enough to make even you write something brilliant.

https://www.lacasaderobertgraves.org/

Title Es Baluard Museu D’art Contemporani de Palm

Plaça de la Porta de Santa Catalina, 10 - Palma

Illustration of a woman looking at the monuments of Es Baluard Museu D'art Contemporani de Palma

This museum, located in a Renaissance bastion, is as strange on the inside as it is on the outside.

Dedicated to contemporary art, its headquarters are part of a ‘smart’ building of more than 5,000 square metres designed in 2003 by Lluís García-Ruiz, Jaume García-Ruiz, Vicente Tomás and Ángel Sánchez Cantalejo.

The challenge was to integrate history with modernity and fill it all with interesting exhibits. Mission accomplished.

https://www.esbaluard.org/

Photograph of the entrance of Es Baluard Museu D'art Contemporani de Palma

Illustration of the Valldemossa viewpoint

You may already know it, but in case you don’t you will be surprised to learn that Mallorca is both sea and mountain.

And that sometimes it snows in this Mediterranean paradise. One of the places where it snows most frequently is Valldemosa, a village in the Tramontana mountain range that has earned World Heritage status from Unesco.

This place is so idyllic that when you see it from the town’s vantage point you’ll discover the meaning of life.

Photograph of the views from the Valldemossa viewpoint

Sleeping

Carrer de Pastor, 26 - Sóller

“Once upon a time there was a house in Sóller…” could be the start of a story. And it is, because this boutique hotel in the quiet interior of the island is the essence of the Mallorcan home.

It has been converted into a hotel, and the attention of the staff, the decor and the luminous rooms make it a fantasy in which explorers can rest, and rest their shoes.

https://www.hotelcanabril.com/

Illustration of some people at a table having something in the Ca'n Abril hotel

Photograph of a pair of Pikolinos men's sandals at the Ca'n Abril hotel

Photograph of Pikolinos women's sandals at the Ca'n Abril hotel

Illustration of a person sitting at the entrance of the Sant Francesc hotel singular hotel

Title hotel Sant Francesc hotel singular

Plaça de Sant Francesc, 5 - Palma

The metaphor of an oasis in the midst of the hectic city is more common than the greatest hits of The Beatles, but that’s where we’re going anyway: this hotel is an incomparable oasis in the middle of all the bustle of Palma.

An historic building in a magnificent setting, a swimming pool on the roof, and wonderful cuisine. Experiences that are worth living.

https://hotelsantfrancesc.com/es

Illustration of the interior of the Can Cera hotel

hotel Can Cera

If you’re looking for luxury, then consider this: a 17th-century Mallorcan palace that has been converted into an exclusive hotel with spacious suites, exquisite decor and a culinary offering to satisfy the most demanding tastes.

Attention: it’s only for adults. So just this once, no little shoes are to be seen.

https://www.cancerahotel.com/

#SmilingCities Mallorca

Eating and drinking

Strolling

Experimenting

Sleeping

#SmilingCities
Mallorca