Majorca

Majorca is an island of contrast. The mountain range that runs from the north west to the south west separates the agricultural field of the centre of the island from the eastern rocky caves and secluded beaches to the beautiful sandy beaches and the bay of Alcudia in the north.

In the south, the island capital of Palma is a joy to explore, with its traditional Spanish architecture and modern city atmosphere almost complimenting each other amidst the abundance of palm trees which line the paved streets.

A short distance from Palma the tourist resorts of Magalluf, Palma Nova and Arenal provide the holiday atmosphere and home from home feel that many seek. The British bars and familiar brand names are a testimony to the number of British holiday makers who visit these isles.

The towns of Binnisalem and Felantix are noted for their wine production. You can also purchase Sangria and Hierbos as well as locally produced brandy and liquers.

In April the Majorcan fields are a picture of delight. The mediterranean summer sun has yet to scorch the fields and the tree lined highways feature a prolific growth of wild flowers against a backdrop of green fields. Suprisingly green and of great natural beauty, a tour inland is definately worthwhile.

Many of the side roads just peter out or end at a monastery. One in particular at Arta takes you through winding hilly roads with breathtaking views of the coast and the deep blue sea. It abruptly ends at a monastery within sight of the sea and a village nestling at the foot of the hills. One wonders why the road did not continue that little bit further to the coastal village only a couple of miles below.

In April many of the fields have already been prepared for the next round of produce. Bales of hay are dotted around the newly harvested fields. After a light rain the locals can be seen wandering the footpaths gathering snails, a local delicacy.

The dominance of the Catholic religion is apparent wherever you travel in Majorca. The most impressive buildings in every village and town are the churches and monsatries.

True Spanish architecture, culture and lifestyle is to be found in the villages and towns inland. If you get the chance be sure to visit the market at Inca. Several streets are closed off to traffic and traditional Spanish goods and fresh produce can be purchased at prices well under those of the shops and supermarkets.

Manacor, Majorca's 3rd largest town after Palma and Inca is also worth visiting. The factory shops are excellent for glassware, ceramics and leather.

Places to Visit

Situated on the outskirts of Porto Cristo they claim to have one of the largest underground lakes in the world. Martel lake certainly looks impressive and when the lights are dimmed the audience is treated to a classical music performance on board three well lit boats.

The caves are well lit and the tour takes about an hour. The caves are open all year round. Entrance fees are around 34 per person but with no discount for children. This is the most famous and well known of Majorcan caves. Others can be found at Caves d' Arta and Caves of Ham's.

Around Majorca you will see an abundance of windmills. These windmills were used either to grind corn or draw water from the islands underground reserves.

There are many types of windmills to be found in Majorca varying in size, design and beauty. Some are very basic yet functional and others are intricate and ornate works of art which are pleasing to the eye. The government have declared the windmills listed buildings in an effort to preserve the islands heritage.Alcudia

This is a popular resort in the north of Majorca. 12km of sandy beach await you. The harbour is worth a walk around and there is plenty of night life and entertainment.

The old part of Alcudia is typically Spanish with cobbled streets and local shops. There is a water park called Hidropark for a fun day out with rides and water slides.

Almudaina Palace

Once the seat of the Moorish rulers. This is now the Museum of the National Heritage.



Palma is a city of contrast with old and new fitting seamlessly amidst the palm lined avenues. As you enter the city on the port side, the massive Gothic Cathedral is an impressive sight.

It took 300 years to build having been started in 1229 by King Jaime I. The side streets around the cathedral provide an enjoyable walk through the real Spain and the Spanish lifestyle of a living city.

Castell De Bellver



Gothic castle on a hill overlooking the whole of Palma. Magnificient views and spectacular circular courtyard

Peublo Espanol



If you like traditional Spanish architecture and examples of Spanish historical buildings, this well build mock village within its own walled enclosure is a must when you visit Palma.

Examples of the buildings within the enclosure vary considerably. Although a mock village this is no lifeless shell and includes workshops for glassworks, rugs, tapestries and ceramics along with the chance to delve into Majorca's historical past.

Calas De Majorca



This is a new resort near the fishing village of Porto Cristo. It has two sandy bays and a nearby village centre with shops, bars and restaurants. The east coast of Majorca has rocky cliffs and walkways with secluded tranquil sandy coves.

Palma Nova

Palma Nova is on the south coast of Majorca. The nearest resorts are Magalluf and Costa den Blanes. This resort is quieter than its neighbours with plenty of shops, bars, restaurants and 3 sandy beaches. Ideal family holiday location.

Magalluf



Popular and lively holiday destination. This is one of the busiest resorts in Majorca. One of the favourite destinations of the British in Majorca. Beautiful sandy beach and a host of night clubs and entertainment venues. Blackpool with sun!.

 

Shopping

A variety of shops and supermarkets provide for every day needs. Well known names such as SPAR, ASDA and LIDL can be found in Majorca alongside Burger King, Mac Donalds and a host of British Pubs and Restaurants.

Traditional handicrafts include embroidery, carved wooden goods, ceramics, leatherware and jewellery. The glassware and porcelain is also of good quality and original to the island of Majorca. The factory shops offer the best prices and Majorcan simulated pearls of exceptional quality.

San Salvador

San Salvador is situated near Porto Colom. A monastery and statue on top of one of the highest points on the east coast.
Breathtaking views from the top and an insight into the islands moastic history. Monastries can be found all over the island often in the most remote of localities.

Cigarettes, beer and the local Sangria are not expensive by UK standards.

Car Hire
 
Car hire is not expensive by European standards costing from around £14 - £20 a day which includes insurance. If you are intending to rent a car it is definately worth shopping around and prices are cheaper depending on the number of days of hiring. Petrol is cheaper than in the UK. You will need your driving license and passport at time of booking.

Food
 
If you fight your way through the maze of British Pubs and Restaurants you can treat yourself to Paella which consists of seafood, meat and vegetables served with rice. Lechona is an island favourite which is roast pig.

Sports
 
Majorca caters for a wide range of sports. Golf courses are found all round the island, horseriding, windsurfing, tennis, squash, water skiing, paragliding, scuba diving, go karting, fishing, sailing and cycling.

Judging by the number of cyclists in April this would appear to be one of the most popular sports on the island.
   
Economy & Produce



Tourism is the main revenue for the island of Majorca. Agriculture comes second. The island produces almonds, oranges and lemons. Melons and potatoes are also grown here as well as many vegetables, olives and excellent cheeses.

  

La Línea de la Concepción

La Línea de la Concepción is the Spanish town situated on the border of Gibraltar. It is often called La Linea for short. It is in the province of Cadiz. Tourists can pass freely between Gibraltar and Spain without any difficulty other than having to carry a passport. From the Gibraltar side you need to cross the runway which doubles up as a road and walk to the border a short distance away. 

It is a town that dates back to the 18th century and would once have been a fortified town with soldiers and military to counterbalance the British on the other side. Linea means boundary  or line so it is easy to see where the town got its name. Many people in La Linea have employment in Gibraltar and despite the fact that the Spanish government is ill at ease with Gibraltar on its doorstep the town has benefitted from the vibrant economy in Gibraltar. The main export of La Linea is fruit and vegetaables and other products for the food industries.

For more photographs of La Linea click here or view on You Tube

Santa Susanna

Leaving Birmingham at 07:30 in the morning we arrived in London for our coach pick up at mid day. From there we carried on to Dover, arriving around 4.30pm for the ferry crossing. Thereafter the gruelling trek through France with three stops along the way. In the early hours of the following day we crossed the French Spanish border and headed towards our destination an hour the opposite side of Barcelona at a place called Santa Susanna on the Costa Brava.

 
This coast line of Spain is quite green. As we trundled on towards our destination the grass and surrounding trees and fields were covered in a light frost, something I had not expected. We finally arrived at our destination around 11:30 am at the Aqua Onabrava Hotel in Santa Susanna. A four star hotel with nice spacious rooms this was to be our home for the next few days. In fact I write this article from the hotel computer whilst I am waiting for lunch to be served. The hotel is faultless. The food and the service excellent. My only criticism would be the fact that the swimming pool and the gym are available but for an extra charge.

 
The beach is nearby and the promenade and surrounding area is spotlessly clean and well maintained. The beach itself is very impressive and stretches for miles and miles in either direction. I have some photos that I will show you later when I get back.

As with any package holiday the tours are available at a premium. Rather than fight our way through the public transport maze we paid for our day trip to Barcelona ( 120 Euros for four of us which is about 85 pounds ) and also the spectacular monastary at Montserrat, more on this later.

 
Outside the hotel the lemon trees were bearing their fruit and the hotel pool glistened in the sunshine, spotlessly clean but unused of course due to the chilly weather. The mornings are cool and similar to mornings in the UK at this time of year but the winter sun soons warms the place up and the bright and cheerful weather is a refreshing change.

 
On the second day we went to Barcelona. What a splendid city. It is both modern and ancient and home to around 4 million people. Thats about 10 per cent of the population of Spain!. This area is called Catalonia. Catalan as well as Spanish is spoken. It was from Barcelona that the Spanish Armada was built. Many of the old villas surrounding the city are from the rich colonial history of the region and its profits from the slave trade and Spanish colonies. Barcelona sprawls for miles and miles. It is actually a collection of villages all merged into one big city.

Perhaps one of the most impressive quarters is the area around where the Olympics took place. This modern and tastefully designed complex includes some spectacular architecture and landscaping as well as parkland and a beautiful harbour. The apartments once used for the Olympic athletes have now been sold off privately and the area has settled into a well used and prosperous suburb of Barcelona. Money has been spent here and the city is still being redeveloped and enhanced. A copy of the gherkin building in London is a prominent feature in Barcelona too.

Our first stop was to the mountain park of Montjuic with its fantastic city views and elegant gardens. This park contains a host of buildings from palaces to sports installations which were built for the Olympics. Although a little misty I managed to get some good photos from the hill overlooking the harbour.

We then drove past the Estadi Olimpic from Placa d´Europa and the Palau Sant Jordi. The Olympic stadium was styled on a previous stadium which dated from 1936 but which was completely rebuilt for the 92 games. This stadium seats 75,000.

 
Our tour bus dropped us off near the city centre and we ventured down ´The Rambla´, the most popular street in the city of Barcelona. This is a long street full of shops, street entertainers dressed in a variety of costumes and standing motionless until they are tipped. A busy fruit and veg market is both colourful and amazing in its displays of food and produce.

If you follow ´The Rambla´down to the end it comes out at the seafront by the Colombus Monument and the old ship building maritime buildings. A walk along the promenade eventually takes you back to the harbour. There are plenty of magnificent traditional Spanish buildings here.

We had lunch at the Placa de Catalunya, a big square in the heart of Barcelona and its shopping centre. This square is also where ´The Ramblas´start from the city centre. We passed the Casa Mila la Pedrera, a fine example of Gaudi´s work. From here we moved on to the Sagrada Familia, a grand church ( of cathedral proportions ) that has been under construction for the last 100 years and is still being built today. This is a stunning masterpiece and one of the finest buildings I have ever seen. The size and scale of the project is incredible.

 
Barcelona is truly one of the most impressive cities I have ever visited. Its long avenues and ornate buildings are a pleasure. The thought and design that has gone into this city is astounding.

The language of this area of Spain is Catalonian. Bones Festes - Happy Christmas. The language is widely used and closer to French than it is to Spanish. This region used to be famous for its textile exports but due to cheap imports from India and China the industry has suffered to the extent that it only amounts to some ten per cent of its former glory. As you move inland away from the centre of Barcelona you find extensive factories and industrial output on a grand scale. This is a wealthy region of Spain where land and house prices have increased dramatically in recent years. The outlying fields are fertile and the countryside green and rich in colours at this time of the year. Dotted around the fields are large greenhouses for strawberry production.

The road network is excellent although you have to pay a toll. Also worth noting is the public transport system. Buses and trains are cheap, on time and very efficient.

 
Our second tour or day trip was to Montserrat about half an hour inland from Barcelona. With breathtaking scenic views and dramatic rock formations this mountain is home to a huge monastry built near the summit. The logistics of building such a complex can not have been easy and the visitor will be amazed at the size of the complex and its extensive outbuildings, roads, walkways and shops. It is worth taking the tram to the very top of the mountain where the views are even more impressive. At the summit there is a small church and further buildings of interest.

The rest of our holiday was spent walking around the Santa Susanna locality and the nearby country park. Despite the fact that this is a new holiday resort there is plenty to do and see nearby. For those a little more adventurous you can catch the train and two stops down the line you are in Blanes, a large seaside resort with a wonderful sandy beach and plenty of shopping. The train station is stuck on the outskirts so you have to catch a bus from the station to the city centre which is easy enough.

This five day break has flown by. I would definately spend Christmas away again. On Christmas day the hotel served a traditional Christmas dinner with champagne and wine flowing for both Christmas eve and Christmas day. They provided evening entertainment and quite reasonable bar prices. I would recommend this hotel to anyone.

Alas this holiday is drawing to a close as we await the dreaded return coach journey. I know how battery hens must feel cooped up in their pens day after day.

Photos : Photo Album

Holiday Booked through Festive Getaways at Champion House, Rookley, Isle of Wight, PO38 3NN Tel: 0871 871 0071

Hotel Onabrava Review

Our holiday was booked through Festive Getaways and we chose the Onabrava due to its location and the fact it was a four star hotel.

Santa Susanna is a resort on the Costa Brava, about an hour from Barcelona. The hotel is about 5 minutes away from a beautiful sandy beach. From the minute we arrived we knew we had made the right choice. The hotel check in was fast and efficient and the staff well organised and pleasant. The hotel was spotless and the rooms spacious and well equipped. You are advised to pay for a safety deposit box as the management will not take responsibility for personal possessions and money left in your room.

The hotel has a good sized outdoor swimming pool but also benefits from a games room, indoor pool, gym, sauna and night time entertainment. On the down side the gym and indoor pool are charged for at the rate of 6 euros a day.

Where the hotel really excels is with its cuisine. Our holiday was a Christmas Festive break and the Christmas dinner was excellent and skilfully presented. Generally meals take the form of a buffet service but the choice and scale of the food offered was truly amazing. All drinks ( and that includes water ) must be paid for separately at main dinner times but this seems to be standard practice in most hotels in Spain.

Bar prices and the prices of the vending machines in the hotel are in line with those locally. In many cases the hotel was actually cheaper. The tours which were not organised by the hotel, were expensive for what was on offer. The most popular tourist destinations nearby are Barcelona, Mountserrat and Girona although the nearby seaside resort of Blanes is certainly worth a visit.

The train service is excellent and very close to the hotel. A return trip to Barcelona is only 7 euros. Public transport in Spain is cheap, clean and efficient.

This is a very good hotel and I would have no hesitation in recommending it to others. 

For more photographs of Santa Susanna, Barcelona & Montserrat click here

You can also view the photos on You Tube with the following links:

Santa Susanna photographs on You Tube

Barcelona photographs on You Tube

Montserrat photographs on You Tube