Travels: Mallorca

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Travels: Mallorca
by Kirsty Thomas
23.9.15

We love the sun and the culture of Spain and have been regular visitors to Mallorca for years now. The plan is to relocate Tom Pigeon to a small Mallorcan village one day when we’ll work under the shade of our own olive tree, swim in the sea and drink beer and eat tapas in small local bars! Until that day comes we thought we’d share three of our favourite places with you.

Palma is Mallorca’s capital city and pretty compact whilst still having the culture, atmosphere and food of places like Barcelona. In recent years we’ve noticed a really exciting shift towards more design focussed spaces, with an array of bars and restaurants, design studios, stores and pop ups thriving in the city.

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Patron Lunares is situated in the area of Santa Catalina just off Palma’s busy marina road. Traditionally an area which housed Palma’s fishermen, ropemakers, shoemakers and sailors Santa Catalina is starting to fill up with vintage and homewares stores alongside great bars, cafes and restaurants.

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Patron Lunares was once the home of The Montepio del Arrabal Society, a space which provided healthcare for the area’s workers and the space retains much of this tradition and atmosphere today; wooden beams, tiled bar tops, a fresh fish counter where your meal is cooked in front of you, classic Mallorcan “llengos” fabrics, huge modern-traditional portraits and handmade Portol pottery.

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The first and biggest of Mallorca’s flea markets in Consell is a Sunday tradition whenever we’re in Mallorca. Every week the town’s sprawling industrial estate in the centre of the island is transformed into a treasure trove of vintage finds, antiques and useless junk. Well worth a visit.

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The Miro Foundation in Palma’s suburbs is a collection of three distinct buildings set in beautiful grounds overlooking the Mediterranean. Miro moved to Palma in 1956 at the age of 63 where he continued his work and in 1979 Miro and his wife Pilar Juncosa donated his traditional Son Boter studio and the Modernist studio designed by JL Sert to the city of Palma along with all the paintings, sculptures, artefacts and documents they contained.

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The architecture, views and details here are captivating. The Sert Studio, with its primary colour panels, white concrete and tiled walls, open plan workspace, vaulted ceilings and cabinets of artefacts is one of my favourite spaces in the Mallorca, if not the world.

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Other places, spaces and people worth a mention…

Atlas Design – a world class, award winning design studio is the heart of Palma.

Sant Andreu – a cafe bar in the centre of Palma with the best poached egg and matchstick fries.

Vermuteria La Rosa – Vermouth and tapas bar in Palma town.

The Camper outlet shop in Inca.

Saturday Flea Market in Son Bugadellas, Santa Ponsa.

The Esplendido Hotel in Puerto de Soller.

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