Things to do in Spain
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Aquiara
Basque chef Koldo Royo runs this fine tapas bar just across from the water; he once ran one of Palma's most celebrated Basque restaurants. The philosophy behind the tapas on offer is all about simplicity, market cooking, and Spanish traditions and ingredients.
reviewed
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Catedral
It's worth climbing the 86 steps to this cathedral, rebuilt and altered over centuries. Inside is Europe's widest Gothic nave (23m) and in the adjacent museum, the masterly Romanesque Tapestry of the Creation. A museum ticket includes admission to a beautiful 12th-century cloister.
reviewed
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Casa Roviralta
This fancy Modernista mansion is now home to a well-known grill restaurant.
reviewed
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La Cartuja de Cazalla
This large 15th-century monastery, La Cartuja de Cazalla, is situated in a beautiful, secluded nook of the Sierra Morena, 4km from Cazalla (take the signposted turn-off from the A455 Constantina road, 2.5km from Cazalla). Built on the site of an Islamic mill and mosque (which in turn is said to have been built on a Roman religious site), the monastery fell into ruin in the 19th century. In 1977 it was bought by art lover Carmen Ladrón de Guevara, who is devotedly restoring it, in part as an arts centre and the restored church functions as a concert hall. As well as making a quick tour of the monastery you could also join a course in ceramics, painting and horse riding. A…
reviewed
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Amadip Esment
This agreeable place east of the old town combines numerous spaces – an organic food store with attached cafe serving sandwiches and salads, and a lively cafe-restaurant with mains costing as little as €5.
There's little that's too imaginative in the cooking, but the tastes are fresh and the international dishes well-prepared. The outdoor tables are lovely when the weather's warm.
reviewed
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B Connected Concept Store
This designer 'concept' store is very much at home in the new Santa Catalina. Apart from furnishings and a few fashion items (it has another shop devoted to vintage fashions a few blocks away), you'll find all sorts of knick-knacks that you never knew you needed but just have to have. The look is oh-so-contemporary with the occasional retro touch.
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Blue Jazz Club
Located on the 7th floor of the Hotel Saratoga, this sophisticated club with high-altitude views over Palma offers after-dinner jazz and blues concerts from Thursday to Saturday, and a Monday evening jam session. Admission may be free but you're expected to buy a drink.
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Ca La Seu
Set in an artfully converted 500-year-old barn of a place, this is one of our favourite bars in Palma with marble-top tables, creative tapas to accompany your drinks and an agreeable buzz most nights. If other places come and go in the neighbourhood, we reckon this place is destined to last the distance.
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Cruceros Marco Polo
This operator offers a one-hour whiz around the bay up to six times daily.
reviewed
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Dialog
The selection of German- and English-language books here is small but very carefully chosen, with especially good sections on languages and books about Mallorca.
reviewed
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Es Jaç
This designer cocktail bar is slick in all the right places, with stunning decor and bar staff who know their cocktails and are adept at helping those who aren't really sure what they want.
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Fine Books
This extraordinary collection of secondhand books, including some really valuable treasures, rambles over three floors. If you can't find what you're looking for, Rodney will try to track it down for you.
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Galeria K
This innovative little gallery presents Spanish and international painters and sculptors.
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Jamón Jamón
It may lack the obvious personality of some of the other bars in the area, but this place packs them in most nights, not least because the €2 offer from La Ruta Martiana for a drink and a tapa is not restricted here to Tuesday and Wednesday.
reviewed
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La Casa del Mapa
You could come to this government-run shop for topographical maps and other hiking resources, but we like it just as much for facsmiles of some examples from Mallorca's ancient cartographicaphical heritage – the 1375 map of the known world by Abraham Cresques is a real find.
reviewed
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L'Ambigú
Tucked in behind the Església de Santa Eulalia, this irresistible little bar rocks on Tuesday and Wednesday nights when you can scarcely see the tapas perched atop the bar, but we like it any night for its sense of a tiny hub of modern, casual sophistication beneath the high stone walls of medieval Palma.
reviewed
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Las Olas
Now here's something special. Run by an Irish-Cambodian couple, Las Olas divides the day into two: lunch is all about fresh Mediterranean flavours with international twists, while dinner is a Vietnamese-Cambodian affair.
Other innovations include tapas sefardis (Jewish tapas), in recognition of the fact that the restaurant's location is on the cusp of Palma's old Jewish Quarter.
reviewed
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Lust Universe
Styling itself as an 'Erotic Lifestyle Boutique', Lust Universe is all about sex toys, books and magazines. It also runs art exhibitions and 'sex and love conferences' led by a qualified sexologist.
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Mallorca Rutes
These privately run city walking tours take in the best of the old city, enabling you to enter some of otherwise closed patios and there's also a gastronomic theme running through. The tours can be booked through Típika, next to Plaça de Santa Eulalia, and the tours leave from Plaça de la Reina, at the southern end of Passeig d'es Born.
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Marenostrum
Marenostrum puts on daily five-hour catamaran tours (from May to October) to either Cala Portals Vells or Cala Vella (depending on wind direction), just east of the Badia de Palma. The price includes food on board and snorkelling gear.
reviewed
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Nautic
One of Palma's standout seafood options in the Royal Sailing Club, Nautic does all the usual grilled fishes and shellfish, as well as rice dishes, but you'll also find surprises such as zucchini stuffed with lobster in a sobrassada sauce. It's a classy place and an easy walk from central Palma.
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Remnants of 12th-century Arab wall
One block east of the Església de Sant Jeroni, you strike a portion of the 12th-century Arab city wall (with some heavy blocks from the Roman wall at the base), beyond which is a park named after the city gate that once stood here: Porta d’es Camp (Gate of the Countryside). The Muslims knew it as Bab al-Jadid (the New Gate).
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Restaurante a Todo Vapor
This original place has a simple philosophy: all of its ingredients must come from the nearby Mercat de Santa Catalina and all dishes are steamed to ensure the goodness remains locked in. We especially enjoyed the couscous.
reviewed
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Restaurant Museu Es Baluard
The terrace cafe of Es Baluard is as good for a snack (€2.90 to €9.95) or bocadillo (filled roll; €3.45 to €5.50) as for a more substantial meal. The former include tandoori wraps, nachos and noodles, but you can also just order a drink and enjoy the view that stretches from the Castell de Bellver to the Catedral.
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Típika
This small shop is dedicated to promoting the craftsmanship and gastronomy of Mallorca. Here you'll find wines, olive oils and a small but carefully chosen selection of other food products, as well as ceramics and other handicrafts from small family artisan businesses across the island.
reviewed