School holidays, an April escape to Spain with my friend and colleague, Lara. In Part 1, we explore Palma de Mallorca, and I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to this truly beautiful country. From tranquil palm beaches to inspiring art nouveau, Palma is the Iberian Peninsula in miniature, and spring was certainly the best time to haved visited. For sunny skies and wondrous vistas, read on.

Part 1: Palma de Mallorca

Welcome to Palma. Every corner of this subtropical city reflects, with such beauty, the king of the island: El Sol. The Sun here, as elsewhere in the Med, bestows a high-angled heat into every nook of life: flora, art and architecture. From the orange groves, to the stuccoed roof terraces to the rainbow of the cathedral interior, and even the pastel hues of the market crockery, there is not an inch the Sun doesn’t touch.

Catedral de Mallorca

However, the crown jewel of Mallorca is its stunning Catedral de Mallorca, which is truly the most beautiful cathedral I have ever beheld. From its Gothic-meets-Arabic exterior to the intricacy of its interior with techicolour mosaic stained-glass windows, one cannot help but stand starstruck in awe. I had the fortune of attending Mass in the cathedral with my friend and colleague, Lara, but truthfully my attention was directed more to the East window, featuring a floral Star of David, than to the altar.

Palm Springs España

Of course, this being coastal Spain, and on escape from our school jobs in the holidays (and the dreary English weather), Lara and I couldn’t not visit la playa, or la platja, as it is in Catalan. First by dusk, and then by day.

This was perhaps my first ever ‘beach holiday’ experience anywhere outside of the British Isles, and I had drastically overlooked the tranquility and peacefulness that comes from just sitting on the beach, staring at and absorbing the waves.

Palma Distrito Centro

A visit to Palma is not complete, however, without exploring its stunning art nouveau centre, which sings inspired elements of Antoni Gaudí, whose futuristic and naturalistic vision inspired La Sagrada Familia and Casa Míla in Barcelona. Palma Centre is adorned with 1000s of artistic lines and pastel colours, pretty boutiques and decorative shop fronts, and dozens of empanada bakeries, which Lara and I adored. You can never have too many ‘atun’ empanadas! I also loved the vibe of the second-hand bookshop in the centre, stocking tomes new and old in Spanish, French, English, Portuguese and German. I left with the Twilight books (1-3), a beautiful copy of my favourite fiction book, Shadow of Night by Deborah Harknesss, and a neat little novella in French, Un Dimanche à la Montagne. Don’t judge 🙂 Naturally, we finished our visit to the centre by ending up at the beach again – with more empanadas.

Port de Sóller

Finally, Port de Sóller, magical Port de Sóller, although it started off un poco frío and surprisingly overcast. Having left Palma early morning to catch the local bus (the budget option) without having yet had breakfast, we arrived to this nestled haven mildly shivering and underwhelmed, but after hot chocolates, sandwiches and frothy coffees each, Lara and I were in for a treat.

While we waited for the sea to warm up and the sun to appear, Lara and I took off on a hike to one of the two lighthouses guarding the entrance to the port. Sóller is a port town in a cove located on the island’s north-west striding edge in the Tramuntana Range – the ‘most important mountain range in Mallorca’ (awarded UNESCO Heritage Status in 2011). Of course, with all the beautiful trails spanning along the coast and inland, we couldn’t stop there.

Our chosen trail took us up through heath and farmland, exposing beautiful vistas of the Tramuntana limestone peaks, like little mini Dolomites. For a longer, future trip, one of the many long-distance trails looked enticing.

Returning to the beach, British overseas holiday life had begun to emerge and the sun was shining gloriously through the palms on the promenade. We spotted, too, the wooden Tren de Sóller passing on the tram tracks, an historic ride you can take direct from Palma, but as we were on a tight budget (€100 each for 3 days/4 nights), this wasn’t really an option, but just to observe and admire was enough. After some veggie square pizzas from Pizzeria al metro Sa Torre (not Spanish, but very tasty after our trail), we crossed to the beach, La Playa de Sóller, and for the first time in my life I sat still long enough to appreciate, briefly, what it is to sunbathe. Even in Palma, I had not achieved this.

Return to Palma

One more evening awaited in Palma, mostly just chilling in our hostel, the Boc (City) Hostel just a kilometre from the centre. Boc made a great base with all the facilities we needed: a well-kept dorm with a genuinely luxurious shower; a relaxed, open atrium complete with coffee machine, comfy seating and, of course, an egg chair, and a decent kitchen for preparing yet more ‘atun’ to eat. Our staple dish comprised simply rice, canned tuna, tomato sauce, a bottle of our supermarket favourite vino, Blanc Pescador, and crusty bread to dip. ¡Perfecto! Honestly, I would recommend Boc, and our cooking to anyone 😉

And so we came to the end of our stay in Palma de Mallorca, an idyllic few nights in miniature Spanish paradise before a hop over the water (with beautiful aerial views of the island) for Part 2: Barcelona on a budget. But before that, here’s a little montage from Mallorca 🙂

Until next time, ¡hasta luego!