Viewed from Parc de la Mar, it’s easy to see why Palma de Mallorca is known as the Pearl of the Mediterranean. The historic Old Town stretches majestically along the waterfront of the wide arc of the Bay of Palma, centuries-old sandstone-coloured buildings come to life when illuminated in the glorious late winter sun. In the ancient streets radiating inwards from the water, Palma’s history and cultural legacy seems to cling to every wall.
That history dates back millennia to a mysterious prehistoric civilisation that inhabited the island 8,000 years ago. The first real historic records start with Phoenicians arriving on Mallorca around 800 BC. That was the start of a series of conquests that would shape the island and the entire western Mediterranean. A few centuries later Mallorca fell to Carthage, who were in-turn displaced by the Roman Empire.
As the Roman Empire collapsed in 476, the Vandals arrived. Next came the Byzantine Empire in 534, remnants of which survived until the Moors took the island in the 8th century. The Moors held on until 1492 in mainland Spain, or Al-Andalus as it was known, but Mallorca fell to King James I of Aragon over two centuries earlier in 1229. It has been part of Spain ever since.
It’s a legacy seared into the fabric of the island and its capital city. Prehistoric structures can still be found in places, and where the Cathedral of Santa Maria and the Palace of La Almudaina stand today, there once stood a Roman fort, and centuries later a Moorish mosque. History is piled on top of history in Palma, and you can feel it in almost every street you walk down.
In the Es Baluard Museum of Contemporary Art an exhibition, Happy the Children of Intranscendent Times, explored equally important but more modern history. Critical to understanding the contemporary story of the island, this history converges in one place: Sa Coma beach. Here in August 1936 Republican troops landed in an attempt to capture the islands at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.
They failed as did the Spanish Republic less than three years later, condemning Spain to decades of dictatorship under General Franco. His legacy of developing mass tourism in the south of Spain led to the beaches where Republican troops landed and died, to be chosen as a site for package holidays in the 1970s and 80s. Perhaps it was a deliberate affront to the memory of the Republican dead.
Colour photos of early mass tourism were contrasted with a scattering of black and white photos from the Civil War. It was moving and poignant, the tourism photos just a little excruciating to view. It is a form of tourism that Spain is rejecting and recovering from, no more so than on Mallorca where people have been protesting against the overwhelming numbers of tourists.
The museum is beautifully done and housed in an old fortress with views over the sea. It stands on the edge of the oldest part of the city. Twisting and turning through the narrow streets of this area is a rewarding pastime. We found traditional tapas places like Bodega Morey and Bar Dias, popped into ancient churches scattered around town, and had a coffee in the pretty but understated Plaça Major.
As the afternoon wore on, we took a walk along the promenade to the town beach, a sandy strip known as Platja de Can Pere Antoni, and then to a harbour filled with leisure craft and fishing boats. As the sun set, we grabbed a table at a beach bar and ordered cocktails. We wandered back along the beach in the twilight before dinner in the Santa Catalina district … and an early departure for Alicante the following morning.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TANIT-Lost-goddess-Central-Mediterranean-ebook/dp/B0DBHTQST4
Wonderful photographs.