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Traveling to Mallorca is wonderful at any time of the year. These days of November we have still been able to feel a little bit of that summer heat.
Although autumn has always aroused my interest and I liked to fully experience the coolness that was previously noticeable when this season arrived, spend a few days on this island, enjoying the sun and the sea breeze with a maximum temperature of 22-23 degrees, it’s a privilege.
The idea I had was that there weren’t many tourists left, although with the cruises, I guess that people visit the Balearic Islands throughout the year. I know that in summer it is impossible to travel through its capital and the charming towns in a relaxed way, the way it can be done now.
One of the most rewarding attractions is admiring an interesting modernist architectural complex that was developed between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Contemplating the works of three of the most significant Catalan architects of the time: Lluís Domènech i Montaner, Antoni Gaudí and Joan Rubió i Bellver is always fascinating.
The building that currently houses the headquarters of the La Caixa Foundation, as well as others in the center of Mallorca, aroused my interest, although modernism is also present beyond the historic center.
One of the stops along the way was to try the famous Mallorcan ensaimadas, an exquisite traditional sweet that has captivated the palates of visitors from all over the world, becoming a true symbol of the city.
A picturesque scene is what can be seen at sunset. Sitting on the terrace of the hotel with the turquoise blue sea as a backdrop is one of the images that remained in my retina, as I watched a cruise ship, after leaving the Maritime Station, which functions as a port of ferry, and is 6 km from the city, said goodbye to the island in one of the most colorful moments of the day.
A first has been to see, from a certain distance, the sunsets of the Tramontana mountain range, which in autumn are filled with bright orange colors.
I remember the attention with which years ago I read George Sand’s classic, A Winter in Mallorca, about his stay on this island with Chopin. The author “flees from the madding crowd” as Fray Luis de León wrote to find a bucolic place and a nature that would improve the sickly existence of the great musician. It seemed to me to be a story full of life, in which the novelist pays tribute to the beauty of the landscape, while she describes her impressions of the people around them and her disagreement with them.
It was precisely in November 1838 when both arrived in Palma de Mallorca accompanied by her two children. For them, it was about making contact with a totally new landscape and social reality.
After a time of his stay on the island, George Sand, with extravagant customs and advanced ideas, establishes a conflictive relationship with an extremely conservative environment, to whom he launches severe criticism.
I reproduce his words: “We had called Mallorca The Island of the Monkeys because, seeing ourselves surrounded by beasts, cunning thieves and, nevertheless, innocent, we had become accustomed to preserving ourselves from them without more resentment or spite than that caused to the Indians by the orangutans (…) When we entered Barcelona, ??we were so eager to put an end to that inhuman race forever that I did not have the patience to wait until the end of the landing.” Aside from all this, the writer is enthusiastic about the landscape.
It is not that same island that is now perceived. Now it is a cosmopolitan society that has welcomed and welcomed foreigners for decades and is one of the most popular destinations in the Mediterranean.
In March 2015, The Times declared Palma the best city in the world to live in. The capital of the Balearic Islands was promoted as a tourist destination, and that was a source of pride for the people of Palma and the rest of the Mallorcans.
Going back to Chopin, everything he could dream of, nature had created there. Valldemosa, located in the north of the island, was described by the pianist as the most beautiful place in the world.
Changing times, the American actor Michael Douglas, a resident of the Valldemossa coast during his vacation, dedicates these words to Mallorca: “For its amazing mix of civilizations, its strong international influence and above all because it maintains its own culture of authentic way.”
