{"id":7607,"date":"2022-06-17T23:40:55","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T20:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.padureanu.com\/uncategorized\/mallorca-about-mass-tourism\/"},"modified":"2022-06-23T19:56:14","modified_gmt":"2022-06-23T16:56:14","slug":"mallorca-about-mass-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.padureanu.com\/en\/travels\/spain\/mallorca-about-mass-tourism\/","title":{"rendered":"Mallorca: About mass tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whenever you open a guide to Mallorca, whether it is offline or online, you will definitely find there in lame letters some objectives that you should not miss. These are Formentor Lighthouse<\/strong>, Sa Calobra<\/strong> and Port de Soller<\/strong> with its train.<\/p>\n

Now, of course, we couldn’t miss such places either, since generations of tourists have praised them so much.<\/p>\n

So we set off on a route that follows the northwestern coast of the island through the famous Sierra Tramuntana<\/strong>. Here is our route.<\/p>\n

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In the first part, we bypassed Pollenca Bay<\/strong> with the aim of reaching on foot, if possible, the famous Formentor Lighthouse<\/strong>, displayed in a place of honor on the “cover” of the island.<\/p>\n

The golf course has nothing special to mention, the beautiful landscapes starting with the serpentines at the exit from the city. The road climbs in a few tight curves up to the plateau of Cap Formentor<\/strong> .<\/p>\n

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The road continues through a forest to the famous Formentor Beach<\/strong>. Here we were greeted by a poster as big as the house, as if further traffic would not be allowed. We followed the others and continued on our way, with the idea of following the road as far as possible, and then go on foot.<\/p>\n

The landscape is beautiful, and at one point you reach a beautiful viewpoint called Panoramica al Cap de Formentor<\/strong>. Here are some pictures taken from there. The view really takes your breath away.<\/p>\n

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To Cap de Formentor on the way<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Panorama of the Cape of Formentor<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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To Cap de Formentor<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Head of Formentor<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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From the panorama point, the road continues towards Far de Formentor<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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The last point reached on the way to the lighthouse<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Corina to Cap de Formentor<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

Next, the road continues to the Formentor Lighthouse<\/strong>, so we continued to climb the series of serpentines that climbs almost close to the mountain slope. After a spectacular tunnel that crosses the western slope and two more curves, I had a surprise. The road ahead was unfortunately closed to cars. We left the car and continued on our way, with our backpacks on our backs.<\/p>\n

On the left hand side I had a beautiful view of Cala Figuera Beach<\/strong>, a secluded beach that is difficult to reach on a path through the forest.<\/p>\n

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Together with Corina at Cala Figuera Beach – Cap Formentor<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Cala Figuera beach<\/div><\/div>
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Cala Figuera beach<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Through the tunnel to Formentor Lighthouse<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

We continued our way and to our surprise, but also to the dozens of cyclists and hikers, after a few curves, we met a “cerberus” that was sitting under an umbrella at the end of the road stopping any access to the lighthouse. Even on foot.<\/p>\n

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I couldn’t help but think of the disappointment of the people who left Formentor Beach<\/strong> on foot and who arrived here after two hours of walking without even being able to reach the final goal: Formentor<\/strong> Lighthouse<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t understand the motivation of the person in question, a wheel in the system of the local town hall, but since we couldn’t do anything, we were satisfied with a few pictures with the lighthouse from where I could climb and we made our way back.<\/p>\n

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We went on to our ultimate goal, Sa Calobra<\/strong>. After descending from Pollenca Bay<\/strong>, the road climbs steeply through the Sierra de Tramuntana<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

It must be said that the landscape is truly unique. This is thanks to the geological specificity of the mountain ridge you are crossing. Due to the erosion of the rocks, they have acquired all some vertical striations that are unique. Here are some pictures below.<\/p>\n

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Through the Sierra de Tramontana to the Lluc sanctuary<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Through the Sierra de Tramontana to the Lluc sanctuary<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Through the Sierra de Tramontana to the Lluc sanctuary<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Through the Sierra de Tramontana to the Lluc sanctuary<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

We also passed by the road to the Lluc<\/strong> sanctuary, in fact a monastery founded in the 13th century, a place of pilgrimage, considered the holiest place on the island. Honestly Lluc<\/strong> was the second disappointment on the route.<\/p>\n

At the entrance you are greeted by a large parking lot, probably tailored for swarms of believers who probably are visiting the monastery at events from their religious calendar.<\/p>\n

We quietly parked our car in the parking lot, and, like any Romanian, with respect for the saints, be they Catholics we headed to the information point to find out what and how to pay for parking. There’s the surprise! With our eyes on the clock, about 10 minutes passed in which the lady at the counter spoke over our heads with a local policeman. Although we asked her to give us some attention, nothing, she continued her discussion.<\/p>\n

Seeing that we had no chance, we left and noticing that we had lost our patience, he finally took us into account. With an indifference worthy of better causes, he provided us with the few explanations and a leaflet, after which she tactfully continued her conversation with his fellow policeman.<\/p>\n

I think that from all the experiences so far, the girl from the monastery broke the record, being surpassed maybe only by the waiters from the cafes in Paris.\u00a0It is another effect of mass tourism.<\/p>\n

The monastery is modest and apart from an altar with a virgin carved in black wood, considered to be part of its founding legend, it has little to offer. We encountered the same air of “let me leave you”, with people bored to give you explanations, so we hurried on to Escorca<\/strong>, the town from which I knew we would go on a spectacular road to Sa Calobra<\/strong> .<\/p>\n

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In the church of Luke<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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In the courtyard of the church Lluc<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Lluc Monastery<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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The altar of the black icon of Saint Mary<\/div><\/div>
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Lluc Monastery – Chilii<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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In the courtyard of the church Lluc<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

And this time Mother Nature has washed away the sins of the locals, because the road from Escorca<\/strong> to Sa Calobra<\/strong> is without a doubt the most spectacular in Mallorca<\/strong> .<\/p>\n

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A few steps from the abandoned aqueduct at the exit of Escorca, on the way to Sa Calobra<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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To Sa Calobra<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Under the spiral bridge at 270 degrees<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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In the Coll dels Reis pass at an altitude of 682 m<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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To Sa Calobra<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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To Sa Calobra<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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To Sa Calobra<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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To Sa Calobra<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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To Sa Calobra<\/div><\/div><\/div>
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To Sa Calobra<\/div><\/div>
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In the port of Calobra<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

The road from Escorca<\/strong> to Sa Calobra<\/strong> has a total of 9.5 km and contains no less than 26 serpentines in a hairpin<\/strong>. With an average ramp of 6.8%, it includes some portions where the ramp is 11%.<\/p>\n

From the top of the Ma-10<\/strong> road to the Colls del Rais<\/strong> pass are about 2.5 km, the rest of the road descending in tight serpentines to the village of Sa Calobra<\/strong> . The last 3 km are the most dangerous, lacking protective parapets.<\/p>\n

The road was designed by engineer Antoni Paretti<\/strong> and was built by hand, being put into operation in 1932<\/strong> .<\/p>\n

It is a very narrow road and therefore quite dangerous. You need to pay close attention to the curves, especially if you come across other cars coming from the opposite direction. At the peak of the season, when the traffic is maximum, I think it can be an ordeal to drive on this part.<\/p>\n

There are no shelters and you have to be careful with the horns, because the buses honk in time, like on the Amalfi Coast, to stop and make room for them to pass. Especially when they come from around the corner and you don’t see them from distance.<\/p>\n

We tried to capture in a movie the most important moments of the descent to Sa Calobra<\/strong>. Here’s what came out.<\/p>\n