Among its virtues, the landscape of the largest of the Balearic Islands hides a corner that seems designed for poets, musicians and artisans. On the northwest coast of Majorca, Serra de Tramuntana rises imposingly above the Mediterranean, making a natural barrier for the island against the northern winds, winds that formerly came laden with snow. For centuries, this idyllic spot was a huge ice factory and important economic activity for its inhabitants. In spring, when the last snowfall ceased, the 'nevaters' went up to the highest areas of the mountain, about 900 meters above sea level, to collect and store what the clouds had left during the winter. Armed with shovels and b

  Presiding the San Simon opening in the Vigo estuary, there is an island of the same name. Connected to its neighbour San Anton by a bridge, the two islands together measure 250 metres wide and 84 long and, according to tradition, when the tide is very low, a brave man can walk without the water reaching his neck to this piece of the history of Galicia. A Cultural Asset since 1999, San Simon’s character made the island a place not much recommended for a lot of recent history. Although until the 19th century several monastic orders inhabited the island, which was the scene of battles between the Portuguese and the Spanish, it was from 1838 when San Simon entered contem

You get the impression that Mother Nature knew exactly where to place the Isla del Rey. She protected it within the shell of another larger island, Minorca, and placed it at an equal distance from the two sides of the port, the second-largest natural port in Europe. In other words, she kept the island sufficiently separated to keep all foreigners who inhabited it a cautious distance away from the rest of Menorca and sufficiently nearby to shout out a welcome from either side of the port. This tiny island of hardly four hectares has been in the hands of several nationalities, and each one has brought something different. To start with, the Muslims invaded it and took over the Isla de l

  Archipelagos are special places. Their isolation in the middle of the water means that in their interior the flora and fauna are distinguished from those living in large continental spaces, forming a very interesting biodiversity for those who understand and plant and animal lovers. The Balearic Islands are no exception.  Their particular collection of local flora is at the El Camp d'en Prohom mansion. Built in 1900, since 1985 it has housed the great garden of Majorca and the Balearic Islands. Baptised as the Sóller Botanical Gardens, it is now the largest repository of information, experience and collections of biological diversity on the Mediterranean arc

The coasts of white sand and cliffs of the the Cíes islands have always been a refuge for restless people: the Barbarians escaping from the Roman Empire, the Pirates in search of the treasures of the Galician estuaries or the hippies desirous of peace and love at the end of the dictatorship found sanctuary there. Still today, sitting on the Monte do Faro with a view of the whole archipelago, one can have one of these rare moments when the mind goes blank and the problems are whisked away. Always irreducible, the Islas Cíes are for getting away from life, not for living. Their climate, cold and rainy in the winter, conceals the sunny paradise that shines in the summer. S

The warm waters of the Mar Menor (a salt water Mediterranean Lagoon in the region of Murcia), protected by its enviable geographic position from storms and strong currents, are perfect for water sports such as sailing and diving, but this is not the only attraction. The area’s benign Mediterranean climate a large part of the year, together with a special cuisine which highlights varieties of fish such as the salted or skin down gilthead or the flathead mullet bring in so many visitors that the authorities had to establish legal protection for a series of natural places. These are known as ‘Open spaces and islands of the Mar Menor’ and are spread over three coastal munici

On the outer edge of the Majorcan municipality of Capdepera, through cliffs that rise tens of metres above the Mediterranean, the Artá caves receive visitors wrapped in semi-darkness and a fear of the unknown. These cavities created by water erosion over thousands and thousands of years, for part of a Majorca hidden from the eyes of normal tourists: this is the Majorca 'Under ground'. Rediscovered in the mid-nineteenth century, this natural enclave harbours many legends in the darkness, like James I finding 2,000 Arabs hidden there after the conquest of Majorca or the writer Jules Verne beginning to get the idea for his book Journey to the Centre of the Earth after vis