Mallorca And Its Magic Mountains

Its ports may be full of yachts, its beaches packed with sun and sand seekers, and its restaurants loaded with seafood lovers, but you don’t have to go far to discover a quieter side to Mallorca. Indeed, the whole northwestern coast of Spain’s small Balearic island is dominated by the imposing Tramuntana mountain range whose old stone villages could take days to properly explore.

The Tramuntana has earned UNESCO Cultural Landscape status for its agricultural terraces and ancient water management systems. Right where the mountains begin to rise, a mere 30-minute drive from the heart of the capital Palma, Jardines de Alfabia is what in Mallorca is called a possessió, or a finca as you might know it. By any name, it is a fine example of an environment that fits the heritage status bill.

In typical manner, the Alfabia manor house, with Gothic roots and Baroque additions, is built around a courtyard whose portal still has a Quranic frieze in Arabic below the coffered wood ceiling. Its lovely surrounding gardens and ponds have long been fed by the system of flowing water that has its roots in the Arab past, as does the name Alfabia itself.

Alfabia has been family-owned for umpteen generations as evidenced by an elaborate family tree hanging in the the manor house whose rooms are full of antiques, musical instruments, books and time-worn portraits and landscapes of the rich past. With Alfabia having its old equipment and presses still in place, visitors learn about tafones, the oil mills that made many possessió owners rich.

Traveling through thirteen tunnels, the popular 1912 electrified Ferrocarril de Sóller narrow-gauge train makes a stop near Alfabia on its ways from Palma to Sóller, a village with fine examples of Art Nouveau buildings (called modernisme in Spain) and and a gray limestone church in the main square. It would be a shame to order just a milky espresso cortado there and miss out on sampling the town’s celebrated gelato.

An old tram takes you the short distance from Sóller proper to Port Sóller, considered one of Mallorca’s finest ports. The cliff-top Jumeirah Port Sóller hotel here spreads both far out and far upward, with views of the sea right below and the rugged 3,000-foot-high Es Cornadors limestone twin peaks in the near distance (if you’re fit, it’s still a tough hike up, but the trail was paved in stone centuries ago).

Just moving between the nine staggered levels and through plenty of greenery that make up the bright Jumeirah property is a delight. At the very top, the open-kitchen Es Fanals restaurant is known for sunsets as rewarding as the menu by Madrileño chef Javier Soriano, such as his grilled turbot with roasted figs and asparagus.

Heading back to Palma by the MA-10 takes you along a portion of the mega-windy and gorgeous road that is lined with olive groves behind stone walls. All around the village of Deià, countless terraces of olive and citrus groves that date from the Moorish era cover the slopes. Also countless have been the creative expatriates residing here over the past century, most famous among them British writer Robert Graves who is buried here.

In Deià, the Belmond property La Residencia and its rich gardens are spread out and up too, with all rooms having views of tiled roofs and surrounding peaks. In dishes at El Olivo restaurant, such as grilled grouper in suquet fish sauce with cuttlefish and squid, chef Guillermo Méndez’s tasting menus reflect the freshest local seafood and produce.

With a mountain-facing terrace, the Café Miró serves tapas and has thirty-three original Joan Miró paintings hanging inside. No surprise with the hotel’s art emphasis that in-house artists literally live in-house.

Apart from being famous as a one-time winter home of Chopin and George Sand who lived in its Carthusian monastery, Valldemossa village with its narrow alleys is simply gorgeous. As the birthplace of Mallorca’s patron saint Catalina Thomas, the town’s stone houses often have a single small painted tile in front recounting the story of her life. From compact Valldemossa, the short return to Palma is like hitting the big city.

Travel Notes: Making for the only long-haul flight from the U.S. to the Balearic Islands, United Airlines will launch service between Newark (EWR) and Palma de Mallorca (PMI), from June 2nd through September 23rd. The Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, with new cabins that include United’s new premium Polaris, will fly three times a week. United will also launch new seasonal service to the Canary Islands.