The municipality ofAlaró is situated onthe southern

foothills of the Serra deTramuntana mountainrange. The seeminglytranquil rise of the moun-tains is the result of a vio-lent series of layers beingforced and compressedupon even more layers ofmillions of tons of rock.The municipalities nes-tled along the southernbase of this mountainrange make up the countyknown as Raiguer.

The municipality ofAlaró is characterized by

its distinct silhouettewhich is defined, in part,by the Serra de Tra-muntana, but also by the

mountain valley thatopens up towards thesoutheast and melds intoa plain.

There are two distinctmountains that character-ize the municipality Puigd’Alaró (Alaró Peak;822m)—which is alsoknown as Castell d’Alaró(Alaró Castle)—and Puigde s’Alcadena (s’AlcadenaPeak; 815m). The positionof these two land masescreates an optical illusion:it appears as if a mirror isreflecting the image ofone or the other along alongitudinal knife’s edge

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Alaró and its geographyThe geography of a region intimately linked to thebackground of its people. In this case, it offers us thekeys we need to understand the events that tookplace in the area: Alaró cannot be understood withoutfirst understanding its terrain.

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which is where the tor-rent de Solleric flows. It iscertainly one of the morenotable images in the en-tire county.

The municipality itselfcovers 4,570 hectares andis bordered by Escorca,Mancor, Lloseta,Binissalem, Consell,Santa Maria, and Buny-ola. The large number ofneighboring municipal-ities is due in part to theelongated shape of Alaró,which extends from themountains into the valleybelow, and also to the an-cient breaking-up of thedistricts of Canarossa andQanarûsha thanks to theland distribution thattook place after the con-quest led by James I.

The mountains define alarge part of the munici-pality, but it is in the flat-

ter and more arable landsto the south where thehistoric center of the town

of Alaró islocated—al-though partof the urbangrowth doescling to theskirts of theruggedmountain-ous terrainto thenorth.

Holm oakand pine

groves as well as scrub-lands still make up theforest fauna in the area,while cultivated lands are

dominated by almond or-chards, and carob andolive groves.

The water

Towns and communi-ties have always been setup around possible watersupplies. The expansionof cities, or lack thereof,can be explained by look-ing at hydrography. TheSes Artigues and Sa Basti-da springs have beenknown since ancienttimes, and many texts de-scribe their location andeven their flow rates.Water from these springswas once used for humanconsumption, for water-

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ing crops, and as a sourceof energy for the mills lo-cated along waterways.

But times have changed,and the waters from mu-nicipal springs have beendiverted through canalsor have been bottled to besold. Now the water sup-plied to the general popu-lation is extracted fromwells. Management of thefont de ses Artigues (SesArtigues Spring) is in thehands of the IrrigationAssociation (Comunitat

de Regants), and al-though it once providedwater for a variety of uses,

today it is al-most exclusivelyused for water-ing crops.

Other springshave turned tobottling water,too. In 1964, fa-cilities werebuilt to sell thewater from thefont de sa Basti-

da (Sa Bastida Spring;335 L/hr), and since1988, water from font

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These two very similar peaks (AlaróCastle and S’Alcadena Peak) areseemingly inaccessible due to the

tall rocky cliff faces that surround them.This has been the cause of much folk-lore. One legend tells that the horse ofking James I jumped up to the castlegates and left his footprints on therocks from where he took off.

Another legend, from another era,tells of the witches that quietly trav-elled the world. All of them that camenear Alaró would meet up on Saturdaynights on the top of s’Alcadena Peakand Alaró Castle. They would takethread with them, and they wouldstretch it out into a bridge across thetwo mountains. From there, they woulddrop down and perform unspeakableacts of sorcery until sunrise, when theywould return like owls to their caves orhideouts.

Rondallas mallorquinas (in English: Major-can Tales), compilation by Jordi d’es Racó (Fa-ther Antoni Maria Alcover). Volume V.

The witches ofs’Alcadena andel Castell

Sorda (SordaSpring; 2,100L/hr) on the sonCocó grounds inthe Clot d’Al-madrà (Almadràdepression) hasbeen bottled andsold.

The weather

As with the restof the island, theclimate in Alaró isnothing less thanMediterranean.There are both seasonalrains—around 40% of allprecipitation falls duringthe autumn—and irregu-lar rains from year toyear. Levels of precipita-tion increase as one ap-proaches the mountains.Thus, Alaró registers, onaverage, 800 mm of an-nual rainfall in higherareas, while lower areassee an average of 600mm. During cold wintersthis precipitation occa-sionally falls as snow.

The temperate climateproduces mild winters

and dry hot summers.The average annual tem-perature is around 15ºC,with summer maximumsaveraging 30ºC and win-ter minimums averaging6ºC. These clement tem-peratures are partlycaused by the sea thatsurrounds the island. TheMediterranean ensuresmild winters, and in thesummer provides theembat—fresh sea breezesthat blow inland from thesea thanks to the con-trasting warm tempera-tures of the land and the

cooler temperatures ofthe sea.

Language dialect

The Catalan dialect spo-ken in Alaró, along withBinissalem and Lloseta,has a peculiar feature:speakers tend to changethe neutral “e” [∂] into anopen “e” [ε]. This charac-teristic can also be foundin Central Catalan, East-ern Minorcan, and Ibizan.

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There is some contro-versy regarding theorigin of the name

“Alaró.” Various authorsseem unable to reach aconsensus. An etymologi-cal search for the word ledlinguists Antoni Maria Al-cover and Francesc deBorja Moll to consider theplace name “llurone,”which is believed to be ofFrench origin but wasLatinized to “Oloron” andeventually became“Alaró.” However, an An-dalusian tale seems to re-fute this theory. Amongthe texts that recount theconquest of the islands bythe Arabs, the geographer

and historian Al-zuhrî(12th century) describesthe Byzantine resistanceagainst the Muslims in alarge fortress in the year903. He calls these fight-ers “Hisn al’-rûm” or“Hisn Alarum”: the oldChristians in the castle.

Al-Zuhrî (12th century) recounts the fall of Alarócastle:

On this island there is agreat fortress built on aplace that is high and bar-ren; it is unlike any otherplace in the populatedworld. It is known by thename Hisn Alarum. Thereare Majorcans who, when

the island was conqueredin the time of Muham-mad, got strong in thisfortress during the eightyears and five months fol-lowing the conquest. No-body could do anythingagainst them, only a lackof provisions forced themto leave.

This fortification risesup on the top of a moun-tain of hard stone wherethere is a plentiful spring.

The village’s first inhabitants

The first signs of earlysettlements in the munici-

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The roots of Alaró2

Portrayal of the martyrdom of Cabrit and Bassa, by Miquel Bestard (Palma Town Hall)

pality of Alaró are in theform of Talayotic build-ings. The Talayotic cul-ture was present in Ma-jorca from the Iron Age tothe Roman conquests of123 AD. These structures,called Talayots, are char-acterized by the buildingtechnique used to makethem, which involves aseries of interlinkedstones one on top of theother without the use ofmortar to join them. Thename comes from theterm “atalaya” whichmeans watchtower, asmany of the structureswere located in defensivepositions or in places thatserved as vantage points.These structures are alsobelieved to have beenused for ceremonies orresidences because, aswith many ancient build-ings, the doorway isaligned with some star orconstellation that was sig-nificant to people in thosedays.

In Alaró many Talayot-ic sites have been found invarious states of conser-vation. The remnants ofmany of these sites are lo-cated on private proper-ties, but they have beendesignated as Bé d’InterèsCultural (BIC; in English:goods of cultural interest),which allows them to bevisited as long as it hasbeen authorized before-hand. The legal recogni-tion as a BIC is the high-est level of protection thatcan be afforded to culturalassets. The archeologicalsites, which are listedhereafter, were declaredBICs in 1966:

Es Picó and SonPalou

This is a group of two

Talayots, both from theIron Age. The first is in agood state of conservationeven though it is coveredwith vegetation. It has atrapezoidal floor that is 9

by 11 meters, and it is 4.5meters tall. The linteleddoorway faces south andis intact, although it doesshow signs of stress andwear. The inside of theTalayot is obstructed butapparently not due to acollapse. Rather, it seemsthat a wall was built toclose it off. The secondstructure has a roundfloor, and only the firstrow of stone is left stand-ing. To everyone’s sur-prise, an electricity polehas been erected inside.

S’Alcadena or es Claper des Gegant

This is an oval-shapedmountain Talayot that isabout 8 meters in diame-ter and almost 3 meterstall. Strangely, it is isolat-ed on a high plateau ofthe s’Alcadena estate. Itsdoorway, which faces thesoutheast, looks directlyover the valley situatedbelow. One side of thestructure is unrecogniz-

able as it is covered by apile of stones (commonlycalled “clapers”) takenfrom the surroundingarea for future use. Thechamber is inaccessible

because theroof has col-lapsed.

Theframe of thebuilding ismade up oflarge irregu-lar blocksthat seemnot to havebeen al-tered. Theyare crudelylayered to-getherwhichseems to in-dicate that

they were taken from thearea near the Talayot andthat not too much workwent into its construction.

Bànyols (Puig des’Apit

This is another circularTalayot made up of largecrudely worked, inter-linked stones. One stonemeasures 2.5 meters inlength, 1.4 meters inheight, and at least 1.1meters in width. Whilethis talayot is presentlyisolated, it is impossibleto determine whether ornot there were otherstructures nearby as theland on which it is situat-ed has been divided manytimes and heavily used. Itis situated on the easternslope of s’Apit Peak, and itmeasures 11 meters in di-ameter. Its current maxi-mum height reaches 3.3meters. The doorway can-not be seen, and the mainchamber has been walledoff by a collapse.

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Claper des Gegant

Can Cabrit or s’EraVella

In this area there arethe remains of a Talayotictown, and its largest fea-tures are two circularstructures and anothertwo rectangular struc-tures. It is likely that if ex-cavations were to be car-ried out, other similarconstructions would befound nearby. Of thegroup, the best preservedTalayot is one that is rec-tangular and measures 10by 11 meters. Other struc-tures are located on theeastern and southern fac-ing sides of the site. Evenmore Talayots can befound in the surroundingarea, but they are in anadvanced state of ruin.

On Puig de Can Cabrit(Can Cabrit Peak), the re-mains of a second Talay-otic village have beenfound. The most well pre-served structure is rectan-gular and measures 10.4by 11 meters. Its maxi-mum height is 2.2 meters.The doorway is unrecog-nizable, and the mainchamber is inaccessibledue to the collapse of the

roof. On its western sidethere is a third building,and in the vicinity thereare other prehistoricstructures in an advancedstate of ruin. On the farsouthern side of the townthere is a cir-cular Talayotthat is about 11meters in di-ameter. Itseems possiblethat in ancienttimes both ofthese villageswere one.

Barbariansand Byzantines

The occupa-tion of Majorca,and invariably ofAlaró, has been constant.Alaró served as an excep-tional defensive positionthanks to the mountain-ous backdrop of the Tra-muntana mountain range.For a long time, this safe-guarded the various peo-ple that lived there.

The sites located nearthe craggy cliffs of SaBastida and Alaró Castle

attest to this. The ruinsthere serve as a reminderof their ancient (4th and5th century) use as lateRoman defensive posi-tions.

From the centuries that

followed the fall of theRoman Empire, no ele-ments that reference theVandal invasion and latersettlement of the GensericKingdom from Africa (5th

century) have survived.The remains housed inAlaró Castle are silent wit-nesses of what transpiredin the 600s in Majorca.

By the late 7th century,the Arabs controlledNorth Africa, and in 707they made their first land-ing on the island. But itwas not until 902-903that the Muslim conquestfully came to Majorca,even though it was al-ready within the realm ofthe Byzantine empire andpaid taxes to Cordoba. Itwas at this time that thegeographer Al-Zuhrimade reference to theeight-year siege carriedout against the fortress inAlaró.

One of the most impor-tant features that remains

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Remains of the wall of the fortress from Sa Bastida

A view of Alaró from Sa Bastida

from the Arab reign inAlaró is the qanat or fontde Ses Artigues, an an-cient well-like verticalshaft that drew its supplyfrom underground water.

Conquest and Repopulation

The conquest of Major-ca by James I the Con-queror and his troops wasframed as a crusadeagainst the infidels, eventhough the main motiva-tion behind it was, as withany invasion, economic.As long it was successful,the retaking of Majorcawould translate into rich-es and land for the king aswell as for the noblemeninvolved, and of course,

power and prestige for theconquistadores.

Furthermore, while theislands were under Mus-lim control, the watersand coastlines of thewestern Mediterraneanwere unsafe for Christianvessels, as they were sub-ject to constant pirate at-tacks. So, merchantscould also benefit fromthe campaign as it wouldset up safe zones in thearea.

Although the conquestwas sustained by the

Catalan prelates and mag-nates, other communitiesfrom Provence (France)and Liguria (Italy) alsoparticipated, as did thecities of Tortosa, Tarrago-na, and Barcelona, whichwere most affected by thepirates’ looting.

On September 5, 1229,a massive fleet set sailfrom Catalonia towardsMajorca with more than155 ships, 800 knights,and thousands of soldiersunder the command ofJames I. On December 31,1229, the capital MedinaMayurqa fell, and with it,a large part of the resist-ance on the island.

In the mountainousareas a kind of guerrillawarfare prolonged thewar until 1232, and giventhe difficulty involvedwith taking the rockyfortress, king James I didnot try to take Alaró Cas-tle until his second expe-dition in 1231. It was notuntil this and the otherfortifications overlookingFelanitx and Pollençawere taken that the con-quest of Majorca could beconsidered complete.

And so the legend sur-rounding the castle wasforged; it continued to be

of vital importance formany centuries. Itsproverbial invincibilityensured that whoeverheld the fortress would beable to hold out a final re-sistance in the case that anew attack on Majorcawere to take place.

James I sealed Major-ca’s destiny with a few ac-tions that would deter-mine the rest of its histo-ry: the founding of a king-dom with its own institu-tions, the “Repartiment”or distribution of lands(division among mag-nates that was agreedupon before the conquestand was proportional totheir military and finan-cial contributions to thecampaign), the repopula-tion (creation of settle-ments with new inhabi-tants in Muslim farm-lands), and the Christian-ization of the people.

With the division oflands in Alaró, it becamepart of the Canarossa dis-trict, whose lord was Vis-count of Bearn.

In his will, James I dis-tributed lands among hischildren, and the King-dom of Majorca waspassed on to James II. Inthe year 1285, Alfonso III

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Jaume I the Conqueror

The main gate to Alaró Castle

of Aragon, nephew of themagnate, wanted to takethe island, so he began anattack using his father’stroops. He had nearlyreached his goal after re-ceiving an oath of alle-giance from many Major-

can settlements when heset off toward Alaró Cas-tle. It was here that bothhistory and legend met, asthe passing centuries haveblurred the lines betweenfact and fiction.

Upon arriving to the

fortress, Alfonso III wasmet with the resistance ofAlaró residents GuillemCabrit and Guillem Bassawho barricaded them-selves in the castle in thename of the true King ofMajorca. They refused to

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In 1285, the troops of Peter III set sailfrom the Catalan coast under the com-mand of his son Alfonso III. After reach-ing Majorca and hearing of the death ofhis father, the youngking set out to con-quer. Alfonso’s troopsseized Palma on No-vember 19, 1285, andtook over the rest ofthe island, except forAlaró Castle.

The entire Kingdomof Majorca was over-taken by king Alfonso,but a lone castlecalled Alaró refused toyield. The young kingmarched to the castleand ordered the de-fenders to surrender.One of them said,“Who demands thatwe turn over the cas-tle?” To which the kingreplied, “I am Alfonso,King of Aragon and of Majorca.” Incredu-lously, the defender responded, “Weknow no king but king James, to whomwe have sworn and will keep our loyalty,and anfós is what we eat for dinner.”(Anfós in English means grouper, thefish, but sounds like the name Alfonswhich is Catalan for Alfonso). Alfonsoanswered, “What is the name of he whospeaks?” To which the soldier respond-ed, “My name is Cabrit and my friend isBassa.” Then, king Alfonso said, “It is fit-ting that you are named cabrito (goat),because it is like a cabrito that I will roastyou over the fire!”

And that is exactly what he did. Whenthe fortress finally fell, the two wereburned to death over coals and on agrill.

Pope Honorius IV threatened to ex-communicate the King of Aragon for hiscruelty, and in response to Alfonso’s pleafor mercy, the pope ordered that he re-turn the Kingdom of Majorca to his

uncle, the originalowner. The kingdomwas eventually given toJames II by the son ofAlfonso of Aragon yearslater.

We do not know thebackgrounds of the twoheroes in this story, butit is clear that they werenot mere soldiersguarding the castles.Rather, they were ar-dent supporters ofJames II of Majorca. Inthe Cathedral of Palmaan altarpiece was builtin honor of the MostHoly Virgin Mary and AllSaints, listed amongthem are the names of

Cabrit and Bassa as martyred saints. Onthe Sunday following All Saints’ Day,their deeds are commemorated in amass at the cathedral. The martyrs’ re-mains are kept in the Chapel of OurLady of Piety, save two of their ribswhich were taken to the Oratori de laVerge del Refugi (Oratory of the Virgin ofthe Refuge) in Alaró Castle and placed ina nave where they can be viewed.

The Majorcan population reveredthem as the perfect example of honor,remaining loyal to one’s oath, and evenas saints until well into the 17th century.

The legend of Cabrit and Bassa

give in to the authority ofthe new king. In the end,the fortress was taken,and Cabrit and Bassawere captured andburned to death in theplaça de Los Damunt.

The Middle Ages and the“Dark Ages in Alaró”

In the years followingthe new conquest of theisland, much focus wasplaced on agri-culture. Diversifi-cation in this sec-tor is what main-tained the econo-my of Alaró forcenturies. Amongthe many tradesthat existed inthose days were:traginers (thoseresponsible fortransporting andselling the oilthat was made onlarge estates andfarms), carbon-ers (who madecharcoal from holm oaktrees), calciners (whowere in charge of runninglime kilns), and margers(master dry stonebuilders, a trade thatstood out in mountainousareas). One notable goodthat was made in Alarówas silk, and to do this,white mulberries had tobe grown in order to sus-tain the silkworm popula-tion.

The first church in thetown was located in theLos Damunt neighbor-hood, probably near thearea where the Sa Bastidahouses currently lie.Building a parish in themid-14th century plantedthe seed that would be-come the modern daycenter of Alaró town. It isin this area that the Los

Davall neighborhoodgrew along the irrigationcanals that ran downfrom Ses Artigues. Thisarea was created and re-mained separated fromthe Los Damunt neigh-borhood by the torrent deNa Marranxa. The areaaround Los Davall be-came the most dynamicarea in Alaró. It waswhere urban and eco-nomic activities flour-

ished throughout the fol-lowing centuries.

During these years,Alaró’s exemplary oil pro-duction was a powerfulmeans of trading with therest of the island, espe-cially Palma.

Tafones or olive press-es were another success-ful part of agricultural in-dustry throughout thehistory of Alaró. In 1871,Archduke Ludwig Salva-tor of Austria noted thatAlaró was the third-placed municipality (be-hind Sóller and Lloseta)when it came to oil pro-duction.

St. Roch (in Catalan: Sant Roc)

The 17th century wasone of hardships across

Majorca, which was hithard by the plague. The1652 epidemic spreadacross Majorca, but it wasespecially cruel in Alaró,resulting in 360 deaths.This tragedy awakened inthe people a devotion toSt. Roch, who is tradition-ally invoked against theplague. He was prayed toen masse, and the end ofthe plague is generally at-tributed to him. In 1771,

he was declaredto be the patronsaint of the town,and every yearhis feast day iscelebrated onAugust 16.

Eventually,the strategic im-portance and up-keep of the castleas a military po-sition was forgot-ten. During thistime, the impor-tance of the cas-tle as a defensivefortress waned,

and its importance as aplace of piety grew until itwas eventually turnedinto a sanctuary. The cas-tle area was also used as ahermitage in the mid-17th

century by Joan Mir Val-lès of Alaró, who livedthere for years. He dedi-cated himself to medita-tion and the preservation

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The houses of Sa Bastida

and protection of thesmall chapel there as apart of his spiritual retreatand commitment to theChristian faith. As the sitebecame more popular forreligious use, he decidedto retire to Valldemossa.

The building of the Or-atori de la Verge delRefugi (Oratory of theVirgin of the Refuge) andthe Vía Crucis (Way ofthe Cross) to help peoplealong their pilgrimages make the steep climb upto the fortification alsodate to the 17th century.

Alaró, a town of pioneers:modernity and innovation

Towards the end of the19th century, the munici-pality began the unstop-pable process of industri-alization and innovation.Citizens of Alaró were pi-oneers when it came tomanufacturing. This,along with widespreadentrepreneurial spirit,meant that Alaró wouldbecome the first town inMajorca to have electriclighting, and it would bethe first place on the is-land to have a cinema.

But, one industry in themunicipality quicklystood out: shoes. Theshoe industry rapidly

began to overtake agricul-ture as the main econom-ic endeavor. This, alongwith the recession thatthe oil market suffered inthe 19th century, meantthat working in the olivegroves or with the olivepresses was no longer aslucrative as it once was.The prosperous develop-ment of shoe factoriesalong with lignite (browncoal) mines were the driv-ers of Alaró’s economy. In1881, a railway line wasopened up between Alarótown and Consell.

Although the signifi-cant economic resurgenceof these years defined theevolution of Alaró, oneevent drastically changedthe history of the munici-pality: Consell separatedfrom Alaró in 1925; upuntil then it was a hubunder the authority of themunicipality of Alaró.

The arrival of electricity

In 1901, Alaró put thefirst power plant in Ma-jorca into operation, evenbefore Palma. The start ofthe power plant broughtabout significant growthand high levels of mod-ernization, which were

positively reflected botheconomically and sociallyspeaking.

The Alaró ElectricityCompany (Compañía deElectricidad de Alaró)was created by the bro-thers Gaspar and JosepPerelló Pol. On a trip toBarcelona, Gaspar visiteda power plant and wasgiven schematics for itsmachinery. On his returnto Alaró, the two brothersdecided to set up a similarpower station.

Their ingenuity paidoff, and a 100 horsepowersteam driven generatorclicked away, producingelectricity. Officially star-ted up on August 15, 1901,the power plant’s openingceremony drew in many

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Joan Mir

Gaspar Perelló

Working in the Can Fullana shoe factory

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visitors from both townsand the big city (Palma).There were even specialtrains scheduled to bringpeople in.

Reports from the eratell the story like this:

There was no shortageof bagpipes or drumrolls.The Cossiers (typical Ma-jorcan dancers) danced inthe church offertory andin the machine room. Atnight, when the lightswere turned on across thetown, the multitude ofpeople in the streetserupted in applause.

In 1917, the Perellóbrothers sold their plantalong with the distributiongrid that brought electrici-ty to Consell, Binissalem,and Lloseta to the Major-can Electricity Company(Compañia Mallorquinade Electricidad).

Today, only the oldplant’s smoke stack re-mains, and it was refur-bished in 2001 in com-memoration of the 100-year anniversary of thepower station’s opening.

Cinema

The Perelló brothers,not content with theopening of the powerplant, also suggestedbringing acinema toAlaró.And so itwas; theystarted thefirst cine-ma in Ma-jorca in1903. For aperiod oftime, peo-ple fromacross theisland cameto Alaró toenjoy theshows be-cause itwas notuntil yearslater thatmore cinemas wouldopen in Palma and othermunicipalities.

The shoe industry

At the end of the 19th

century, the production ofshoes was still big busi-ness in Alaró. Even today,the industry has survivedand thrived. In 1870,Jaume Pizà Jaumicoopened the first shoemaking workshop inAlaró, and he progressive-ly added new factories tohis burgeoning business,including Can Pau Coll,Can Joan Vidal, and CanPericàs. The first exportswere sent to the UnitedStates, and during WWIspecial orders were madeto supply boots to theFrench army. In 1955,there were more than 50shoe making workshopsthroughout the munici-pality.

Other production lineswere also set up aroundthe commercialization ofthe shoes. Two cardboard

factorieswere built,originallyfor ship-ping theshoesthat weremade inAlaró.Eventu-allythough,theyweresupply-ingcard-board

to halfof theisland.Some

carpenters were even ded-icated to making woodenboxes for transportingshoes.

Recreation of the opening ceremony of the powerplant

Film poster from Alaró

Coal mines

One of the major play-ers in the economic bo-nanza that took place inAlaró was coal. Mineswere opened up duringthe first third of the 19th

century. Archduke Lud-wig Salvator of Austriadescribed two: La Fortu-na and La Dolores. By themid-20th century sixmines were operating,and in the 1970sthe National In-stitute of Indus-try (Instituto Na-cional de Indus-tria) acquired allof them. Aftertheir subsequentpurchased byGESA (a Major-can power com-pany), they wereused exclusivelyfor providing fuelfor thermalpower stations.In 1988, thenumber of sitesoperating decreased dras-tically until the next yearwhen lignite extractionwas ceased altogether as itwas not economically vi-able.

The tramway

Today, few traces re-main of the late Alarótrain company. The ex-pansion and new trajecto-ry of the Consell-Alaróroadway makes it verydifficult to appreciate theold layout of the railwayline.

In 1875, the path fromPalma to Inca was thestarting point for the ideaof having a railway line onthe island that wouldleave no village behind inthe process of industrial-ization and would give

way to increased tradewithin the island. The ini-tiative became reality onMay 22, 1881, when theline opened up. It was 3.4km long and linked thetown of Alaró with themain railway line thatconnected Palma andInca.

A lack of funds meantthat that the line thatopened up would initiallybe drawn by animals—

mules pushed loads fromConsell to Alaró, and thereturn journey workedsimply with gravity—andeventually would switchto an engine basedtramway. The trains even-tually stopped running in

the 1930s though, due tothe competition theyfaced from road trans-port.

The Republic, the SpanishCivil War, and the post-war period

Globalization, and itsconsequences, are not ex-clusive to the present. Theend of the First WorldWar lead to a dramatic re-

duction in thenumber of mili-tary boots or-dered fromAlaró, and as aresult the localshoe making in-dustry sufferedgreatly andforced somecraftsmen to em-igrate to Franceand Argentina.

The yearsleading up to the1931 declarationof the SecondSpanish Republic

were critical to the nas-cent social and labormovements which plant-ed the seeds for andspurred the events thatwould take place later on.During the years that theRepublic was active, Alarófocused intensively on ed-ucation, which translatedinto cultural services suchas the opening of the li-brary; the implementa-tion of adult educationprograms; and, perhapsmost importantly, theconstruction of a newschool that is still in useto this day.

The October 1934 up-risings did not take placein Alaró; but, they werethe cause of arrests, andthey did away with theleft-leaning government.The coup d’état that fol-

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Interior of a lignite mine

Declaration of the Se-cond Spanish Republicin Alaró

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lowed the 1936elections gave wayto the darkestyears in recentSpanish history.For Alaró, as withthe rest of Spain,the Civil War wasone of the saddestevents in the mu-nicipality’s history.

Present day Alaró

After the post-war period, Alarówas once againhost to strong in-dustrial and min-ing activities, andafter the 1970s it changedfrom being a place of emi-gration and instead be-came a place of immigra-tion. In the 1980s,overdependence on ex-porting to the UnitedStates and a loss of com-petitiveness in the marketled to a crisis in the shoemaking industry that al-most resulted in the com-plete loss of all shoe facto-ries. Currently, only a few

companies tied to shoemaking remain, includingTony Mora and the corpo-rate headquarters of thewell-known brandCamper, which is themost internationally rec-ognized Spanish shoe.Many municipalities inMajorca, including Alaró,once thrived on industrialtextiles, but this markethas all but disappeared.Alaró is now a quiet resi-dential municipality with

moderate commercial ac-tivity. There is also amoderate level of tourismthanks to its privileged lo-cation and vibrant sociallife.

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Center of town

Alaró Castle

The path from ses Artigues to Orient

Getting to know Alaró townmeans rambling through andgetting lost on its winding streets,seeing history brought to life inancient reminders, and experien-cing the town itself.

The hike up to Alaró Castle isone of the most spectacularoutings to be found in thisbeautiful mountainous areaof Majorca.

This trek will take travelers pastthe old system that providedwater to the town of Alaró andwas developed during the Arabicoccupation of the island.

Walking around AlaróTo really get to know the municipality, three routesare suggested hereafter that cover some of the muni-cipality’s most emblematic streets and pathways.

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The Electricity tower

The Sant Bartomeu Church

The Bànyols townhouse

Son Manyes

Sa Creu

Center of TownWalking around Alaró:

DIFFICULTY: EASYDISTANCE COVERED: 3.3 TO 3.7 KM.TIME: 2 HOURS

The Town Hall

The Rectory

Plaça del Mercat

S’Olivaret

Can Jaumico

Alaró Theater

The Can Xalet townhouse

To really get to knowthe heart of Alaró,one must walk down

and get lost on its windingstreets, see history in thebuilding façades and an-cient ruins scatteredabout, and experience thetown itself. This route,which reveals more than700 years of Alaró’s histo-ry, takes visitors pastsome of the most note-worthy buildings andlandmarks of the town’scenter. For more informa-tion, take a look at the at-tached map.

The trek starts in theplaça de la Vila, whichwas built towards the endof the 1930s as part of anurban reformation projectthat saw the constructionof this public area and ofthe current town hall.

Sant BartomeuChurch (Església de SantBartomeu)

The plaza is dominatedby the Sant BartomeuChurch. The history ofthis parish goes back tothe 13th century with theSanta Maria Church,which is located in the

Los Damunt neighbor-hood. In the mid-14th cen-tury the population out-grew the original oratory,so a new one was builtalong the southern edgeof the expanding towncenter, in the Los Davallneighborhood. Only thebase of the bell tower ofthe original church stillremains where the cur-rent one now stands. Theoriginal church was re-placed in 1626, and theconstruction of the newplace of worship was car-ried out over many cen-turies. In the 17th and 18th

centuries, the majority ofthe chapels were complet-ed, as was the main door-way and the inscription

on it which dates to 1785.From the plaza, the

main façade of the churchcan be appreciated. It isdefined by large amountsof bare unornamentedstone, and the only ele-ments that stand out are

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The church bell tower and the tower on the town hall

Son Mallol

The sculpture “Retorn al bon camí”

the main doorway and therose window, which werepopular in 17th-century re-ligious architecture. Thewalls contain more than20,000 pieces of cutstone.

The main doorwayis Baroque in style andmade with sculpted mar-ble in various colors. Thearchway, framed by pil-lars with bases and capi-tals with moldings, servesto support the gablewhich is ornamented withcurled details. Above itthere is a small opening inthe form of a window. Afig tree juts out of theopening, and the citizensof Alaró affirm that it hasalways been there and hasalways been the samesize.

The rose window

has gothic tracery, and toits left is a clock mountedin wood and stone. Abovethe clock there is a smallrounded arch bell gablemade with voussoirs.

The doorway that leadsto carrer del Campanar,known as the Portal de

Sant Antoni is simpleand could be the oldestone in the church. It datesback to sometime be-tween the 16th and 17th

centuries, and it is madeout of stone and two pi-lasters that support thedoorway. The façade onthis side of the buildingsupports the rectangularbell tower, is divided byrelief lines, and is toppedwith a cupola. The unfin-ished doorway in thefaçade that faces plaça deJaume Sebastià, alsoknown as Portal del Fos-sar, is a low arch withbell-shaped borderscarved out of pudding-stone.

A piece of artwork bythe artist Enrique Brogliacan also be found on top

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Plaça de la Vila

The main doorway to thetemple

The town hallfountain

S. Bartomeu ChurchPortal del Fossar

Creu del Cós

The town hall and its portico

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of a rock in this plaza.This well-known artist isone of the many that havechosen to settle down inAlaró.

The interior of thechurch has only onenave with chapels be-tween the buttresses thatsupport the cross-vaultedroof. What is really inter-esting is that at the pointwhere the arches come to-gether, the builders putthe date that they finishedthe work. The lateralcolumns of the vaultedceiling show the crest ofAlaró on their capitals.

The main alter, to-wards the back of the

nave, boasts a uniquepiece of Baroque Major-can art from the 18th cen-tury. There is no other all-marble altarpiece on theisland that is as big thisone. Traditional storiestell that the citizens ofAlaró worked the stonepieces in their ownhouses which led tosignificant problemswhen it came time toputting all of them to-gether.

Another notable ele-ment in the church isthe choir. Built dur-ing the last quarter ofthe 18th century, it isthe masterpiece of

Italian artist Antonio Sol-dati. Notice the overallmotifs and design of thepiece which incorporatesdelicate floral and angelornaments as well as theuse of blues and violets.

The baptismal font, lo-cated just next to thechoir, was made out ofone solid piece of marbleand dates back to 1655.

Of the set of altarpiecesfrom the rest of thechapels, the majority areBaroque in style. Of spe-cial interest is the altar-piece in the Capella deles Ànimes del Purga-tori (All Souls Chapel),created by Joan AntoniOms in 1660.

The Sant BartomeuChurch celebrates massdaily at 8:00 pm and onSundays at 9:30 am. Thebuilding can be visited in

The Portal de Sant Anto-ni, which leads to carrerdel Campanar.

Sant Bartomeu Church:1. The main altar2. The Chapel of St. Joseph3. The Chapel of the Virgin of the Re-fuge4. The organ5. The Chapel of St. Gabriel6. The Chapel of the Rosary7. The Chapel of Carmen8. The choir9. The Chapel of Lourdes10. Portal del Fossar (Fossar Doorway)11. All Souls Chapel12. The Chapel of the Holy Name ofJesus13. The Chapel of St. Anthony14. The Chapel of the ImmaculateConception

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The church’s main altar, made out of marble

Baptismal font

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Every Saturday morning, the church puts on an organconcert that coincides with the weekly market.

The instrument that is currentlyin Alaró’s Sant BartomeuChurch is not the original one.

There is nothing left of the first onethat was installed. The current organwas built in 1754, by Pere JoanBosch, a member of the well-knowndynasty of Majorcan craftsmen whobuilt, among others, the instrumentsin Madrid’s Royal Palace and the ca-

thedral in Seville. A looting in the1960s led to the loss of some of itsoriginal parts. But in 2006, it was res-tored by the organ builder GerhardGrenzing at the behest of the choirOrfeó d’Alaró. A large part of thetown’s residents wanted to help inthe restauration of the organ, so theymade the symbolic purchase of oneof the instrument’s ancient pipes.Every Saturday, at 11:30 am, organconcerts are held that anybody cancome and enjoy!

The organ

the mornings from Mon-day to Saturday.

Located to the left ofthe main doors of thechurch is the Creu delCós which dates back tothe 16th century. It was awayside cross; these werestructures that were usu-ally located along paths tomark the end of a munici-pality and to providesome kind of spiritualprotection. A storm withstrong winds destroyedthe cross in 1884, andafter having been aban-doned for many years, itwas finally restored in1958, by sculptorFrancesc Salvà. It was de-clared a BIC (good of cul-tural interest) in 1963.

This crucifix has an oc-tagonal capital, and on itsfaces are six figures andtwo elements from the

crest of Alaró: awing and a tower.The figures accom-panying Christ areSt. Sebastian, St.Barbara, St. Paul,and a saint carry-ing a palm branchto represent mar-tyrdom.

Above the capi-tal, the cross itselfis extensively deco-rated with plantmoldings, andarms stretch outholding medallionswith a figure oneach one: a peli-can—the symbol ofthe Eucharist, theVirgin, St. John,and Mary Magda-lene. On the backside is a represen-tation of the Virginwith the babyJesus in her armsand her foot on afull moon with ahuman face. Thereare also symbolicimages for the fourevangelists: aneagle, a man, alion, and an ox.

Under the pro-tection of the cross,people used to praythe Blessing of the

The Creu del Cós has an octagonal capital with elements fromthe crest of Alaró and figures representing St. Sebastian, St. Bar-bara, and St. Paul.

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The crucifix has a represen-tation of Christ on the frontand a representation of theVirgin Mary holding BabyJesus in her arms.

Fruit on May 3, the Feastof the Cross, to protecttheir crops.

The town hallLocated in the same

plaza is the town hall,which is made up of twobodies, each pertaining todifferent buildings built indifferent eras. The first,overlooks carrer Petit anddates to the end of the 19th

century. It was acquiredby the government whenconstruction started onthe new regionalist-styletown hall after the CivilWar.

The façade (also re-gionalist in style) is madeup of a portico on theground floor, a first floorwith balconies, then anattic, and finally a tower.

The roof of the buildinghas two slopes and Arabicroof tiles. The stone ash-lars, which form the en-tire structure of the build-ing, can be seen on partsof the façade and the attic.

The overall style of thebuilding was inspired bythe Majorcan civilBaroque form, which ischaracterized by, amongother elements, low arch-ways supported by widecolumns.

The tower on top ofthe building is oppositethe church bell tower,which gives a purposelybalanced look. The ledge,with a wooden overhangprotects the building fromonslaughts of water.

There are various cu-

riosities housed withinthe town hall. Under theportico on the groundfloor, there is a fountainthat dates back to 1742. Inthe interior courtyard oneof the oldest crests (1681)can be found; it was res-cued from the previousgovernment building. Theold town hall, a Baroquebuilding, was located justin front of the currentone. It was situated in thearea that is currently theplaça de la Vila.

Plaça de la Vila

Without leaving theplaza, one can find theHotel Traffic and the CanPunta restaurant on the

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The town hall has a Baroque civil Majorcan style which is characterized by low archways supported by wide columns.

Town Hall of Alaró

The town hall portico

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corner opposite the townhall. The location of theseestablishments was, atone time, just one build-ing called the Posada deCan Xalet (located atplaça de la Vila, numbers8 and 9). The so-calledposades were the town-houses of the estate own-ers who would make useof them when they werein town. The building’sfaçade is the original one,and it is an example of thepainstaking building tech-niques that were used atthe end of the 17th centuryand beginning of the 18th

century in Alaró.Llorenç Rosselló (1867-

1901) was a well-knownsculptor from Alaró. He isfamous for designing thepiece the Forner Balear(The Balearic slinger),

which is on dis-play in the gar-dens in front ofthe cathedral inPalma. In theplaça de la Vilaan 1899 bronzepiece of his, ti-tled Retorn albon camí(Back on theright track), ison display.

Behind thissculpture, in an-other corner ofthe plaza, is the Casal deSon Mallol (located atplaça de la Vila, number14). It is a house that wasacquired by the town, andits history goes back tothe 16th century. Amongother notable features arethe large windows, deco-rated with ogeestonework and the smallbell-shaped window onthe side of the house. Adoor attached to thebuilding houses the lastolive press that was usedin Alaró, and some of themachine’s structure hasbeen preserved. Theground floor was re-formed to host the AcrosBar—a place whereAlaró’s citizens meet bothduring the day and atnight—and a restaurant.

Even through the remod-eling, some of the originallayout of the building andsome of its original deco-rations, including ceramictiles, have been kept.

Among the characteris-tics that define the major-ity of the main door-ways in Alaró are thelarge lintels—stone slabs

The streets of Alaró are signed withhand-crafted plaques.

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The Can Xalet townhouse

The “Retorn al bon camí” sculpture by Llorenç Rosselló

The Son Mallol manor

that make up the upperhorizontal part of thedoorframe—and sand-stone doorframes andthresholds—the lowerhorizontal part of thedoorframe. In some cases,crosses or theGreek letterTau, a symbolof St. Antho-ny, werecarved intothe center orsides of thestone door-frames.

Going upcarrer CanXalet, visi-tors can seetwo 17th and18th-centurybuildings located oppositeone another: the Posadade s’Olivaret (located atcarrer de Can Xalet, 5-11)and the Celler de s’Oli-varet (located at carrerde Can Xalet, 12-16).

The Posada de s’O-livaret is one of thebiggest feudal manors inthe town, and its mainfaçade faces carrer d’En-mig. Although the origi-nal manor is quite old, theinterior of the buildingwas updated in the 20th

century. The house keepsthe image of the Virgin

Mary that is used in theEaster Sunday proces-sion. The Celler de s’O-livaret, or s’Olivaretbodega, is on the otherside of the street on thecorner, and it still houses

its originalwine casks.

The plaçadel Mercatgardens arelocated at theend of carrerde Can Xalet.As the namesuggests, indays past trad-ing activitiestook placehere. Buteventuallythey were

moved to plaça de la Vila.The route continues

along carrer d’Enmig andturns down the first streetto the rightuntil reachingcarrer Síquia.Following themarked path,the 17th-cen-tury Casalde SonVidal (car-rer Síquia,21-23) can befound at theend of thestreet. The

importance of thisdwelling lies in the stateof conservation of the ele-ments preserved within.In the past, it housed anancient water mill thatwas part of the qanat(Arabic water system)that supplied the townwith water. Unfortunate-ly, only a few pieces areleft of the mill. It is saidthat the hermit Joan Mir,founder of the Miramarhermitage in Valldemossalived here.

Going up the slopedcarrer de Son Sitges, visi-tors will find carrer Ger-reria on the right-handside. This is one of themany nice little areas thatcan be explored in the oldtown. Return to carrer deSon Sitges and find SonBieló (carrer de Son Sit-ges, 11), a manor that

S’Olivaret is one of thelargest manors in thetown center of Alaró.

The ‘passatge’ de Sa Ge-rreria is a pretty spacethat takes us to the areaknown as Ses Rotes.

In the center of the plaçadel Mercat there is asculpture by the artistSolveig Pripp.

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Son Vidal

The Greek letter Tauinscribed on the lintelof a doorway

housed yet another watermill—of which very littleis left—belonging to thepreviously mentionedwater system. Thismanor dates back to the18th century; its doorwayis neoclassical in style,and the foyer still has theoriginal cobblestonefloors from when thebuilding was erected. Thehouse has its own chapelwith an ancient altar anda small sacristy.

Ses Rotes

The path carries on to-wards the most elevatedarea in the town center:carrer del Pujol. Here,there were once a set ofsmall farm houses. Now,Ses Rotes is a developed

Son Bieló has pieces ofone of the town’s oldwater mills.

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During the 1960s and 1970s, some renownedartists moved themselves or their studios toAlaró. Many of them no longer live in or fre-

quent the town, but in some way or another, theyhave left their mark. Many anecdotes can still be heardand pieces of art found around the town center. Someof the artists coined the term “the group from Alaró,”and they even put on some joint international exposi-tions under the name. Some of the more famousnames tied to Alaró include Manolo Coronado, Ma-nuel Hernández Mompó, Celedonio Perellón, AleixLlull, Amelia Viejo, Josep Maria Llambias, and Sol-veig Pripp.

These years do not represent an isolated incident. Infact, this area continues to attract artists from all overthe world, including: Sandra Lehnis, James Lam-bourne, Rafa Forteza, Álvarez Frugoni, Alfred Lich-ter, Nathasha Lébedeva, Menéndez Rojas, DiegoDelgado, and Von Treskov.

The municipality has a relatively new but reputablegallery that specializes in contemporary art: AddayaCentre d’Art Contemporani. The owners of the galleryfocus their activities on exhibiting pieces by renownedartists who have some relationship with Alaró and onexposing new artists.

Art in Alaró

The Son Bieló alleyway

Manuel Mompó along with one of his pieces called“Alaró” (above). Below, a sculpture by Coronodoin the plaça dels Horts and a painting by Perellón.

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neighborhood, but it wasthe historical location ofthe town’s rotes—smallfarms that were given forfarming in exchange forsomething, or simply tohave some farming landwithout any personal ex-penses.

During the 1960s and1970s, some well-knownartists chose to move toAlaró, and they were con-

centrated, for the mostpart, in this neighbor-hood.

At the end of the walkthrough this area, visitorsarrive to the plaça deSes Rotes which offers abeautiful panorama of thewhole town center withthe Los Damunt neigh-borhood in the forefront.

Going down the steepcarrer de Son Rafalet, on

the left-hand side is an-other landmark that illus-trates the once vital waternetwork: the Rentadorsde Son Rafalet (the SonRafalet wash-house).These public wash basinswere built in the 19th cen-tury and were suppliedwith water from the SesArtigues Spring. Theywere used for decades bythe women of the town to

Ses Rotes was an areawith small plots ofland that were usedfor farming.

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The font de ses Artigues is thespring that supplied water to alarge part of the municipality in

centuries past. It was mentioned as earlyas 1232 by Gastón de Bearn. The cons-truction around this spring is a qanatsystem: an Arabic method for makinguse of underground water. It employsthe use of a shaft that goes many metersinto the ground. In Majorca they tend tobe made out of dry stone. Along the con-duit, vertical perforations were made atregular intervals to serve as vents. Canalshad to keep a certain slope so that gra-vity would keep the water flowing.

In the case of Ses Artigues, the shaftgoes 60 meters into the mountain andonly the exit point is visible. Recently itwas closed off for health and safety rea-

sons. Here, the qanat forms the startingpoint of the water system that transpor-ted irrigation water to farming terraces,the water that would power the machi-nery in the mills, and of course the waterthat was used by the residents of Alaró. Itis possible that the Los Damunt neigh-borhood used water from another qanat:the one from the Sa Bastida Spring.

Font de Ses Artigues(Ses Artigues Spring)

wash clothes. The installa-tions have one large basinwith three interior com-partments all made ofstone and white plaster.The roof is presently madewith modern day beamsand Arabic roof tiles.

From here, the way tothe original town centerof Alaró crosses the plaçadels Horts. It was built inmodern times, and thesculpture by ManoloCoronado, somewhat hid-den in a corner, shouldnot be overlooked.

Los Damunt

Finally, the journeytakes visitors through theLos Damunt neighbor-hood, the original towncenter of Alaró referencedas early as the 13th centu-ry. The reduced size ofthis ancient area makes itpossible to take a leisurelystroll through its majorstreets, where some im-portant buildings andmany simple houses withaged façades can be ap-preciated. In this area allkinds of doorways can beobserved: ones with

rounded arches, segment-ed arches, and reducedarches, as well as thosemade out of stone, sand-stone, and even somewith wooden lintels(upper part of the door-frame).

The planned route con-tinues down carrer deson Duran, towardsplaça de Cabrit iBassa. Before reachingthe plaza, visitors are en-couraged to take a lookaround and get lost in thealleyways that make upthe Los Damunt neigh-borhood.

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Los Damunt

Plaça dels Horts

The Son Borràs townhouse

Old housesSa Bastida

A-C/3-4-5

In plaça de Cabrit iBassa or plaça de LosDamunt, visitors areonce again confrontedwith either history ormyth: it is said that thisis where the local heroes

(Cabrit and Bassa) werecruelly executed by kingAlfonso II of Aragon.

On one side of theplaza a chapel was builtin the 12th century tocommemorate the mar-tyrdom of Cabrit andBassa. Later, it was re-formed, and now it hous-es an altarpiece of theVirgin, by Manuel Coron-ado.

In the center of theplaza there is an elevatedcistern that sits upon anoctagonal stone slab,with elements made ofiron. This kind of watercistern, and others like it,once provided water tothe town’s population.

In the plaza, which isdominated by an oldmanor that once housedthe offices of the GuardiaCivil (a Spanish law en-forcement agency), visi-tors can find what arevery likely the oldesthouses in Alaró. Theydate back to the gothicperiod and can be foundat plaça Cabrit i Bassa, 8and 9. These two houseswere originally onebuilding. The old door-way is still intact and isproof of this. Thoughwhen the house was di-vided into two, a new lowarchway was installednext to the original one

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After the Catalan con-quest of Majorca, wri-ters referenced Los

Damunt as the Arabic farms-tead of Oloron, included inthe district of Canarossa orQanarûsha after the divisionof lands. This ancient farms-tead would become the firstpopulation center (known aspobla antiga [the old town]or partida d’Amunt) where achurch was erected. Throug-hout the 14th-century, thepopulation grew, and this re-quired that a new church be

built in the lower part of thetown. The Los Damunt hege-mony would carry onthrough the 16th-century,after which more construc-tion took place aroundcurrent town center and thenew parochial church in theLos Davall neighborhood.Despite the numerous reno-vations that the area has un-dergone, some of the me-dieval structure still remains(in the narrow and dead endstreets, and in the small pla-zas, for example). And manyof the houses clearly dateback to the 14th or 17th-cen-turies. Some might see Alaróas two towns bundled upinto one, given that the LosDamunt neighborhood evenhas its own festivities. Seethe chapter “Alaró and its fes-tivals”.

Los Damunt, the beginnings of Alaró

The Chapel of Cabritand Bassa

The cistern in the plaçade Cabrit i Bassa

to provide an entrance tothe new dwelling. The ap-pearance of the façade hasbeen altered by the addi-tion of mortar.

Continuing the trektakes visitors out of theplaza and directs themleft onto carrer de Son

Borràs and eventually tothe front of a propertywith the same name asthe street (Son Borràs)at numbers 9 and 11. It isa manor that was built to-wards the end of the 16th-

or beginning of the 17th-

century. It is said that itwas the old posada(townhome) of the SonBorràs estate. Inside, thehouse has been dividedinto two. One of them stillhas the stone pieces of theold olive press. There are

also some treasured re-mains of an ancient wa-termill.

Still in the Los Damuntneighborhood, followingcarrer Tià Roig downhilland turning onto carrerde Sa Bastida, visitors fi-nally arrive to Sa Basti-

da (num-bers 18 to24), an oldpiece of landthat was ab-sorbed intothe towncenter of LosDamunt.This set ofbuildingsgets itsname from a13th-centuryfortificationthat today isonly a scat-

tering of ruins. It is possi-ble that these houses werebuilt very near the firstchurch in Alaró.

The side façade of thebuilding opens up into aninterior courtyard, domi-nated by a large hackber-ry tree, where the Univer-sitat de la Vila, that is, theancient seat of the munic-ipal government, was saidto have met during theMiddle Ages.

Now leaving the firstneighborhood of ancient

Alaró, continuing downcarrer de Sa Bastida, vis-itors cross the torrentde Na Marranxa,which physically sepa-rates the historical neigh-borhood, and continueonto carrer Can Coxetí toreturn to the Los Davallneighborhood.

The Can Pinoi build-ing rises up where carrerCan Coxetí, d’Enmig, andPorrassar meet. It is a17th-century house thatboasts an impressivestone doorway and sand-stone cross embedded inthe main façade.

Continuing onto carrerPorrassar, a little fartherdown, visitors can see anew cistern called el Car-regador del Porras-sar. It is octagonal in

Son Borràs is a 16th-cen-tury manor that servedas the town home forthe farmland of thesame name

The Los Damunt neighborhood is Alaró’s originaltown center, referenced as early as 1395. The smallsize of this area makes it possible to take a shortpleasant stroll through its main streets.

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The Sa Bastida manor

The doorway of the SaBastida manor

shape and sits atop a largestone slab. It still has itstop cover, the wheel forpumping water, and thedrainage line, all made ofiron. The small basin at-tached to the base collectsoverflowing water andtrickles from the drain.

Following the street,visitors will pass theAlaró Theater.

Going down carrer deCan Palou (at numbers 2-6) visitors will pass infront of a typical feudalmanor from the 17th-century. Today, it is di-vided into threedwellings. The first ofthem is an exemplary17th-century home. It hasan impressive porticobuilt with pillars that havestone capitals with mold-ings. For those who enjoycurious details, one of thewindow frames has aMaltese cross engravedon the side of it. If visitorsare observant, they willnotice that there is noshortage of engravedcrosses on doorways andwindow frames in Alaró.

Along the street, at thecurve, lies a small plazadivided by the road, withtwo buildings on eitherside: Can Pere Ric andthe Posada de SonGuitard.

The former (located atcarrer de Can Palou, 1;carrer de Son Antlem, 19)is a 19th-century buildingwith meticulously craftedgeometric decorations aswell as the use of pieces ofcontrasting sandstoneand polished stone to dec-orate the ground floor.

In front of Can PereRic lies the 18th-centuryPosada de Son Guitard(located at carrer de CanPalou, 20). Various reno-vations have been carriedout here, including on the

exterior façade and thetraditional mortar cover-ing, thus leaving openstone which allows for theperfect framing of thewindows and the doorwayto be observed. Like manyof the houses from thatera, the property had anolive press. Today, theolive oil receptacles andmilling stones remain.

Turning down thestreet to the left visitorscan once again see theSant Bartomeu Church inthe distance. The recto-

Can Pinoi is a housefrom the 17th-centurywith an outstandingstone doorway

Typical manor housefrom de 17th-centurysited in Can Palou streetand today divided intothree houses

In the area of the Porrassar we find an octogonal cistern or carregador

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The Alaró Theater was recently reopened, in2008, after significant renovations. Up to the1950s it had been the old parish cinema. Now,

the theater has been beautifully redone: outsidethere are murals by Menéndez Rojas, and inside apiece by Pep Llambías. The space has been desig-ned for different kinds of artistic and cultural activi-ties, including cinema, performing arts, concerts,and seminars, among others.

Teatre d’Alaró (Alaró Theater) D/6

ry (located at carrer Rec-toria, 8-12) is on thissame street. It is a build-ing from the 18th-century,and it was constructed ontop of a previous building.The main doorway,an interior Renais-sance doorway, andsome other interiorelements and recy-cled materials arethe only parts of theformer building thatstill remain. Fromthe street, visitorscan only appreciatethe still intact neo-classical doorwayinspired during theProtorenaixement(Spain’s first Ren-aissance). It has a largedoor with a lintel carvedout of stone and toppedwith a triangular gable. Inthe gable there is a crestand two dates, 1630 and1803. The last date almostcertainly references thedate that the reformationswere carried out. The liv-ing area can be reachedby passing through theouter doorway, and carry-ing on through a smallcourtyard with orangetrees—formerly a veg-etable garden. On themain façade of the house

there is a sundial from1768 painted in black andwhite. If it is open, peek ina little bit, the rectorwon’t mind.

On this same street,

visitors can find Can deHaro (at numbers 7-9), amagnificent 18th-centurybuilding whose receptionhall doors can be appreci-ated if the doors to thestreet are opened. Theseinner doors are modern instyle and are made ofwood and glass. The door-way of the house is alsonoteworthy: a beautiful,rounded, voussiored,stone archway. The fa-mous Majorcan poet JoanAlcover lived in thishouse.

Here, the route returns

to the starting point, theplaça de la Vila. Fromhere we propose two fur-ther options: visiting thesouthern part of the townor taking a look around

the western part ofthe town center.The first option willtake visitors past,among other things,the Son Sant Joanfarmstead andsome exemplarymodernist build-ings. The secondchoice will take visi-tors past some ofthe most impressivemanors in Alaró.

The southern option (to Son Sant Joan)

Returning to the first ofthe forks, this route leadspartly down the laststretch of the original itin-erary back to plaça de laVila and the Casal deCan Pere Ric. Fromthere the new path con-tinues downhill. At carrerCan Cladera, number 25,visitors can stop at theend of the street to ob-serve a colonial art decostyle manor from 1931. Of

Of note in the 19th-cen-tury Can Pere Ric manorare the meticulously de-tailed decorative ele-ments

In the orange tree gar-den at the rectory a sun-dial from 1768 can befound on the interior façade

Son Guitard (18th-cen-tury) underwent a renovation in order toexpose the stonework of the façade

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The exterior façade of the rectory

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note here is the stonemolding with circulargeometric patterns andmodern trellis (similar ex-amples can be seen inother buildings from thesame period).

The flagship projectand symbol of Alaró dur-ing the Republic was un-doubtedly the EscolaGraduada (located atcarrer Pere Rosselló Oliv-er, 24) which has a 1920sregionalist style. The proj-ect was carried out by thearchitect Guillem Forteza,and it was finally openedon April 14, 1934.

Passing in front of theschool, downwards oncarretera de SantaMaria, visitors can ad-mire a set of houses thatlie outside of the towncenter and which makeup the old Son Sant Joan

farmstead. Its origins canbe dated back to the 13th- century, and it was origi-nally made up of the farmhouses, a stable, and anolive press (first describedin 1458). A large part ofthe buildings that ap-peared afterwards wereupdated in the 19th and20th centuries along withthe renovation of thefarmstead itself. If visitorsreach the Son Sant Joanfarmstead, they will haveto return to the schooland continue along carrerde Pere Rosselló Oliver (astreet that is dedicated tothe town’s repub-lican mayor whowas executed byfiring squad dur-ing the SpanishCivil War) andturn right ontocarrer SonAmengual, toenjoy an exampleof a new moderndwelling, esCasats or elsCasals (lo-cated at car-rer SonAmengual 26). Thisbuilding is isolated fromthe rest of the nearbybuildings as it has its owngarden area. It is, without

a doubt, a beautiful exam-ple of modern architec-ture, which is embodiedin the two semicircularparts of the structure thatstand out from the centralaxis of its austere façadeas well as the florally dec-orated exterior fence, therailings on the terracesand balconies, and theuse of iron as a decorativeand structural element.

Further up, carrer SonAmengual joins up withcarrer Can Pintat to headtowards another one ofthe many points wherewater was once distrib-

uted, the pump at CanPintat . This circular cis-tern, has a vertical wheelwith a drainage line, allmade out of iron.

The Escola Graduada was inaugurated in 1934, and itwas the symbol of Alaró during the Second SpanishRepublic

The colonial art decostyled manor locatedon carrer de Can Cla-dera

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The Can de Haro manor

Son Sant Joan

Can Marrigo is a 17th-century manor that has anotable doorway andiron balcony

This route comes to anend at an important pieceof modern history for themunicipality: the Torrede l’Electricitat orelectricity tower. Situ-ated on avinguda de laConstitució, just a littleway down from carrer deCan Pintat, this is theonly landmark that re-mains of the first powerplant in Majorca (1901),opened under the aus-pices and hard work ofthe brothers Gaspar andJosep Perelló, two oil andsoap salesmen. Actually,the remains are that ofthe base of the plant’ssmokestack which ismade up of two concen-tric walls in the form of apyramidal trunk, joinedby a ladder. In the sectiontitled “Alaró, a town of pi-oneers,” this chapter inthe history of Alaró is de-scribed in great detail.

This structure wasclassified as a BIC (goodof cultural interest) in2000, and the town gov-ernment worked on itsrestauration one yearlater, the 100th anniver-sary of its inauguration.

This is the final stop onthis route. Visitors needonly return to the plaça

de la Vila, the startingpoint for all other treks.

The western option (to Pontarró)

The second of the twoalternatives starts inplaça de la Vila and con-tinues onto carrer Petit,then carrer AlejandroRosselló, and finally avin-guda de la Constituciówhere the tour begins byturning onto carrer delCamp Roig. At number20, visitors will find CanMarrigo, a 17th-centuryhouse with a stone façade

The pump on carrer decan Pintat is circular andhas an iron wheel

Els Casals is a buildingthat allows passersby toappreciate anotherexample of modern ar-chitecture

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The electricity tower

Can Bereiol, the headquar-ters of the electricity plant(building located next to theelectricity tower)

G/4

covered with mortardrawn in irregular panels.Of note is the doorwayand a balcony with an or-namental railing made ina modern style out ofwrought iron.

There are many build-ings that stand out alongthis stretch: numbers 25,27, and 48-50 on thisstreet are 19th and 20th-century buildings withcarefully looked afterfaçades where sandstoneis are the central element(both architecturally andaesthetically). At the endof this street, number 52,is Son Manyes a 13th-century building wherethe rounded arch door-way has been cut to give itmore height. On thissame doorway, a row ofhanging roof tiles protectthose entering or leavingthe house from rain. Now

almost unrecognizable,the old house number—once used to organize thepayment of taxes—canstill be made out over thearch.

In front of this house,and somewhat hidden be-hind an olive tree, is theCarregador de SonManyes, a cistern similarto the others which sits ona round stone slab thathas been absorbed intothe sidewalk.

The tourcontinues up-wards alongcarrer CanManyoles,and almostimmediatelyat the inter-section withcarrer CanRos and car-rer Pontarróthere arethree ele-ments worthtaking a lookat. On thecorner, at carrer Can Ma-nyoles, number 1, is thePosada de Bànyolsfrom the 18th-19th centu-ries. It was the house ofthe sculptor Llorenç Ros-selló. On the opposite cor-ner, at carrer Can Ros,

number 30, there is a ra-tionalist style buildingwith a unique shape.Along the central verticalaxis of the main façadeprotrudes a semicylindricbody. The balconies areadorned with ornamentaliron railings and, like theenclosure walls, trellisesdecorated with floral ele-ments. We can see similardecorations at number 25on carrer de Can Clade-

ra.The third noteworthy

building can be found atthe beginning of carrerPontarró. It is known assa Creu, or “the cross,”because of the cross em-bedded in the wall. Made

The Bànyols townhouse

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In front of the Son Man-yes manor there is anarea with a round cis-tern

Son Manyes

Rationalist style manoron carrer de Can Ros

out of sandstone, the onlyengraving is a token ofJesus Christ in its center.This is the meeting/start-ing point for the EasterSunday procession.

A brief stop in front ofCan Jaumico or Cas’Indiano (carrer Pontar-ró, 11-15) will allow visi-tors to appreciate a mo-dern manor, built towardsthe end of the 19th centu-ry. It is the fruit of the

economic boom that tookplace in Alaró thanks tothe process of industriali-zation.

Jaume “Jaumico” Pizàopened the first shoeworkshop here in 1870and quickly began expor-ting to Puerto Rico. Thebuilding is reminiscant oftypical Native Americandwellings, and thus it iswas given the nicknameCa s’Indiano (the Indian

House). It is a large isola-ted manor surrounded bya large outdoor gardenwhich boasts a large starpine tree (Araucaria hete-rophyla) that is over 100years old. The floral ele-ments etched into thestone corbels are also pre-sent in the balcony.

Continuing on carrerPontarró, visitors willfind another public wash-house: the 19th-century

The Can Jaumico manorSa Creu

36

Since 1994, this property hasbelonged to the municipalgovernment. It hosts a large

part of the cultural activities thattake place in Alaró, and it consists ofseveral different spaces, like the munici-pal library, presentation rooms, andother multipurpose rooms.

Passing through the farmland of SonTugores was the irrigation canal thatwent to Son Vidal before emptying outinto a large 25-by-5-meter reservoir lo-cated just behind the houses that usedthe flowing water to power their mills.The farmland associated with the manorwas included in the Ses Artigues Springqanat system, and even after the build-ing’s renovation, the remains of the wa-termill can still be seen in the public es-tate.

Some pieces of the ancient olive press,like the oil receptacles, have been con-served. Of course the manor can be visit-ed, as long as it is open. Just next to, andsharing a wall with, this building is an-other that also belonged to the housesthat made up Son Tugores. Although it isprivately owned, it was built in the sametime period and underwent a renovationin the 19th century.

The adjacent terraced gardens, orJardins de Son Tugores, are also impressive.Once the property’s olive grove, they arenow a public area complete with a botani-cal garden and a children’s playground.

Casal de Son Tugores (Son Tugores Manor)

Rentadors del Pon-tarró (the Pontarrówash-house). It consistsof a rectangular washbasin made of stone andmortar, and it lies be-neath a recently reformedportico.

Very nearby, just upthe street, lies Son Mas(carrer de Solleric, 5), a17th-18th-century manorthat is presently dividedinto two separate proper-ties. Originally, each onehad a unique function:one served as a residenceand the other was foragricultural and farminguse (including an olivepress). This manor is also

known as Antiga Tafonadels Deumes.

Retracing our steps,the path continues up

carrer Camí de ses Bar-reres (an old part of car-rer de Sant Roc) andturns at the intersectiontowards plaça de Son Tu-gores. Here visitors canfind the 17th-centurycases de Son Tu-gores—although the lay-out of the building onlydates back to the 19th-cen-tury—and their attachedgardens. The farmland as-sociated with this urbanresidence once borderedthe town center; todaythey have been complete-ly absorbed by the town.

Returning to carrer delCamí de Ses Barreres,linking with carrer Vergedel Refugi, and turningonto carrer JaumeColom, visitors are leftwith the last part of the

The public gardens atthe Son Tugores manor

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The Pontarró wash-house

Casal de Son Mas

itinerary which passes infront of the casa de SesCaves or Can Morro(carrer Jaume Colom,21). This 17th-centurydwelling houses the beststone staircase in Alaró.The manor that includesnumbers 9 and 13 on thissame street serves as agood example of the mid-17th-century academismstyle, which here, is pres-ent in the decoration andcomposition of the build-ing. The main façade hasbeen preserved in its orig-inal state.

Finally, continuingonto carrer de Can Ros,at number 25 sits theCan Roua building (orCan Jaumico). The mate-rial and technique withwhich the façade wasbuild is worth mention-ing: the whole wall ismade up of rough-cutstone ashlars ordered reg-ularly along the façadeand set with very tightjoints, almost the onlyspecimen of its kind inAlaró. It was the firsthouse to have been con-verted into a shoe factory,

and afterwards it wasconverted into a chickenand rabbit farm. Today, ithas been converted onceagain, this time into ahouse with a bar andrestaurant on the groundfloor. The building hasundergone a completerenovation as the upperfloors were large roomsdesigned for industrialuse. The route finisheswhere it began, in theplaça de la Vila.

The façade of Can Rouais notable for its well-crafted hewn-stoneashlars

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The house of Ses Caves or Can Morro

The manor on carrer del metge Jaume Colom

The corner of carrer Can Ros andcarrer Jaume Colom

Alaró castleWalking around Alaró:

DIFFICULTY: EASY-MEDIUMDISTANCE: 4,2 KM.TIME: 3 HOURS AND 45 MINUTES (WALKING) / 1H AND 15 MIN (VEHICLE)

Castle Walls

The l’Orengarviewpoint

The outer walls (outer do of the compound)

The Tower of Homageor “The Congestor”

Water cisterns

The Cave of St. Anthony andthe tower by the cave

orway

Guest house

Oratory of the Virgin of theRefuge

The climb up to AlaróCastle is one of themost spectacular

outings inthis beauti-ful moun-tainous re-gion. Thepath makesup part ofthe DryStone Trail(Ruta dePedra enSec) that hasbeen caredfor and way-marked by the Majorcangovernment (Consell deMallorca).

The castle is located ontop of Puig d’Alaró (AlaróPeak). The strength of thefortress is clearly evi-denced by its location; thevertical mountain wallsmake it inaccessible fromnearly all sides, save one,and the only point ofentry is the path thatleads to the monument.

The camí del Castell(Castle trail) is paved atthe beginning, and thusvehicles circulate on thisstretch. The last part ofthe trail—past the Pla delPouet—can only be tra-versed on foot.

This route starts in thetown center of Alaró, andvisitors need only followthe signs that point to-wards carretera d’Orient.

Here, the path is clearlymarked, and it is difficultto get lost. Once on car-retera d’Orient, signs

point walkers in the rightdirection, and a sign postmarks the turn left to-wards the ascent to thecastle. The first part ofthis section is paved andgoes past the Son Curtfarmland. In fact, the pathis bordered by the farm’sfence. A little further onare some houses that arepart of the SonPenyaflor farmland,which is currently anagro-tourism destination.

From here the trailsplits. The original one ismore direct as it shortcutsthe more frequented con-crete path.

If walkers cannot findthe ancient pathway andinstead continue along

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The façade of Son Curt

The way up

the roadway, a little far-ther ahead, just behindthe boundary wall that di-vides the Son Penyaflorand Es Verger estates,there is a marker that willdirect those who wish toleave the cement path to-wards the original trail.

The itinerary continuesupwards through oliveand pine groves, followingcurves designed to easethe intense slope of theclimb and crossing overthe direct trail manytimes until finally leavingit behind a few hundredmeters before reaching

the cases d’Es Verger,where it continues onthrough a forest and endsup at the base of themountain’s cliffs on top ofwhich lays the castle.From here, the trail is un-mistakable, and it leadsdirectly to the first line ofthe fortress’ defensivewalls. On this last part ofstone path, visitors aretreated to magnificentviews of the municipalityand its surroundings. Onthe rugged reddish clifffaces (which according tolegend are red from thespilled blood of the de-fenders the castle), be-hind trekkers as theymake their final upwards

The walk up to theCastle is one of themost spectacular hikesin this beautiful area.

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The beginning of the trail that leads up to the Castle

Es Verger

The interior courtyard at Son Penyaflor

44

push towards the castle,are a number of nativeendemic plant speciesthat would certainly inter-est any naturalist.

Reaching the top

The structural militaryelements of the strong-hold include an outer wallthat is adapted to the un-dulations of the craggyrock and an interiorwall—the castle itself—that is made up of threeclose range watchtowersand a main watchtowerdesignated for the lord ofthe castle.

The first enclosure isaccessed via the mainouter door, a large round-ed gateway that houses notrace of the double doorsthat once kept intrudersout. Once past this firstwall, stairs lead visitors toa crenellated towerknown as the Torre del’Homenatge (towerof homage) or theConstipador (con-gestor), which must bepassed through in orderto enter the fortification.The Constipador got itsname from the fact that,after making the difficultascent to the castle, visi-tors would take a rest andescape the heat under the

tower, where the pleasantbut deceiving breeze hascaused more than a hand-ful of colds!

This tower has becomethe stalwart emblem ofthe castle, and of the citi-zens of Alaró, for thatmatter.

The military installa-tions that can be seen arethe 14th-century ruins of agothic period castle. Dueto its strategic impor-tance, many walls wereplanned and built andmuch maintenance wascarried out in the decadesfollowing the Reconques-

ta (reconquering), atwhich time the castle alsobecame a permanent mili-tary post.

Among the elementsthat were included in thebuilding of the rocky cas-tle were rooms for ser-vants, kitchens, manyflour mills, ovens for bak-ing, and water cisterns.

The most importanttime in the history ofAlaró Castle was duringthe 13th, 14th, and 15th-cen-turies, when the RoyalHouse of Majorca reignedand was eventually incor-porated into the Crown of

The Tower ofHomage or“The Conges-tor”

Aragon. The fortificationwas progressively aban-doned, although a mili-tary garrison was keptthere until 1741. Despiteefforts to the contrary,most of the medieval tow-ers have not been able tostand up to the passing oftime, and thus they arepartially collapsed as norecent renovations orarcheological excavationshave been carried out inthe area.

Once making it throughthe wall and visiting thewatchtowers, there is awinding path that leadsuphill from the plateau toa group of more modernbuildings: the oratory andthe guest residence. Thereare two dry stone wallsnear this sloped portionof the path; they serve asviewpoints: one called theOrengar and the otherthe Mirador.

From the Orengar vis-itors can see a beautifulpanorama of the largestmountains in the Serra deTramuntana. The name“Orengar” comes fromthe wild oregano thatgrows on the cliffs. Theview spans from the Serrad’Alfàbia to Puig de Mas-sanella and includes themountains l’Ofre, TossalsVerds, and Majorca’slargest: Puig Major.

The second lookout of-fers visitors a view of halfof the entire island at aglance: from the Bay ofPalma to the mountainsin Felanitx. On clear dayseven the silhouette of theCabrera archipelago is

visible. From here atnight, thousands of lightsfrom across the islandflicker, seemingly at thefoot of the castle.

All of the area has beenincluded in the Natura2000 network as a Site ofCommunity Importanceand a Special ProtectionArea for birds. Further-more, it makes up a partof the protected naturalarea in Majorca’s Serra deTramuntana mountainrange.

Upon reaching the top,visitors will find an openarea where a series of build-

ings have been erected.As was normal in me-

dieval fortifications, thecastle had a gothic chapelso that the personnel sta-tioned there could complywith their spiritual obliga-tions.

Over the years the de-fensive role of the fortresssubsided and religiousservices and gatheringsbecame more and moreimportant. With the 1622construction of the Orato-ri de la Verge del Refugidel Castell d’Alaró (Ora-tory of the Virgin of theRefuge of Alaró Castle),the site was definitivelyconverted into a sanctu-ary for the inhabitants ofAlaró. The building wasmade possible thanks tothe initiative of the parishpriest at that time, JoanColl, who was also in-

45

View of the Tramuntana mountain range from the l’Orengar viewpoint

Viewpoint from where visitors can see the southernpart of Majorca

volved with the enlarge-ment of the Sant Bar-tomeu Church and was afervent defender of theworship of the martyrsGuillem Cabrit andGuillem Bassa.

The first stone in theconstruction of the ora-tory was laid onMarch 29, 1622,during alargescale pil-grimage to thesite to beg forrain after a longdrought. After itwas completed,on November 6of the same year,two ribs from themartyrs GuillemCabrit andGuillem Bassawere transferredto the oratoryfrom their tombsin the Capella dela Pietat (Pietychapel) below the organin the Palma Cathedral.

The building is rathersmall and has austere ar-chitecture. The maindoorway, made out ofsandstone, is designed ina Renaissance style. Thedoorway is preceded by aportico covered by a dou-ble sloped roof with Ara-bic roof tiles that is heldup by a rounded arch and

octagonal pilasters. Underthe portico are two wood-en braces that support theroof. The apex is toppedwith a sundial.

The interior of the ora-tory is made up of onlyone room with a barrelvault, ceramic floors, and

walls decorated with em-bossed plant motifs byItalian artist Antonio Sol-dati.

The apse is semicircularand contains an altar situ-ated behind a Baroque al-tarpiece with an image ofthe Virgin Mary.

On either side of the al-tarpiece are the represen-tations of the two mostwell-known historical fig-

ures from Alaró, GuillemCabrit and Guillem Bassa,who reached martyr andalmost saintly status afterthey bravely defendedAlaró Castle. In the sac-risty there is a shrine ofCabrit and Bassa, and asubstantial collection of

offerings madeto the image ofthe Virgin. In1622, the chapeland sacristywere added tothe originalbuilding.

The use of thecastle as a reli-gious site is fur-ther evidencedby the modernVía Crucis (Wayof the Cross)—installed in the1990s after theoriginal tileworkdisappeared in1907—which

serves to lead visitorsfrom the last fork in thepath up to the castle. Theoriginal Vía Crucis was atrail with multicoloredtiles depicting the Sta-tions of the Cross. Now,due to vandalism, thereare scarcely remains ofthe original work. The lastStations were depicted onthe walls of the buildingsin the plaça del Oratorio,

46

Oratory of the Virgin of the Refuge

which have recently beenrenovated.

Celebrations atthe castle

On the Sunday follow-ing Easter, a climb up tothe castle is organized tocelebrate the Festa del’Àngel (The Feast of theAngel) or Pancaritat. InMajorca, hikes to her-mitages and sanctuarieshave always been organ-ized during the week fol-lowing Easter so thattrekkers can share andenjoy the last of the previ-ous week’s empanadas.

On the first Sunday ofSeptember, the Nativityof the Virgin Mary is cel-ebrated with a collectivemeal in front of the ora-tory.

The strong-hold wasnever proper-ly populated,but it has hadvarious in-habitantsthroughoutthe centuries:from militaryunits to 17th-

century her-mits totoday’sinnkeepers(donats) who

manage the guesthouseand open the hermitagedaily from 9:00 in themorning.

Somewhat separatedfrom the main set ofbuildings lays a set of sixwell preserved water cis-terns with Arabic designfeatures and which pro-vided water to the main

structures on the site.Even farther away, visi-tors can head to thesoutheast of the mountainto visit the most remotetower, complete withcrenellated walls andarrow slits. This tower hasbeen popularly referred toas the Presó delsMoros or the Torre desa Cova.

Very near this lastwatchtower is the openingto the Cova de SantAntoni (the Cave of St.Anthony). Visitors, how-ever, will find no signs tohelp them locate it. Thisimpressive and irregularopening breaks throughthe same craggy cliff facethat defines the castle andcan be seen from the footof Puig d’Alaró. From in-side, it offers a spectacu-lar view of the surround-

47

The celebration of the Feast of the Angel or Pancaritat

Sa Taverneta

48

ing lands. This cavernserved as a 17th-centuryhermitage, too.

In 1931, the entire set ofbuildings on the site wasdeclared a Bé d’InterèsCultural (good of culturalinterest).

The area where all ofthe buildings are locatedis public property, man-aged by the FundacióCastell d’Alaró (AlaróCastle Foundation),which is made up of theAlaró Town Hall, the Dio-cese of Majorca, and theMajorcan government(Consell de Mallorca).For years, however, thecitizens of Alaró havefought to put the castle inthe hands of the munici-pality. This bizarre storybegins in 1811, when thefederal government putthe fortress up for sale.Through the incredible fi-nancial effort of the citi-zens of Alaró, the monu-ment was purchased. Themain symbol of the mu-nicipality was finally inthe hands of its inhabi-tants. But, thanks to anexpropriation law draftedin 1885, the central gov-ernment once again auc-tioned off the property

that was now no longertheirs. Fortunately, theoratory, the guest house,and the area enclosed bythe ancient walls were ex-cluded from this sale, andto this day, they still be-long to the municipality.

When returning to thetown of Alaró, visitors canopt to retrace their stepsor take the turn indicatedby a wooden signpost thatleads to el Pouet andeventually the cases d’EsVerger, which have beenpartially converted into arestaurant. Here visitorscan savor the restaurant’sfamous lamb shoulder.

For those who plan tomake the trip in a vehicle,the easiest option is toleave it in the parking lotof the Es Verger restau-rant and take the el Pouettrail.

The installations atAlaró Castle offervisitors the roman-

tic opportunity to spendthe night inside the wallsof an ancient mountain-top castle for the modestprice of €12-€15 per per-son. To go on this adven-ture, visitors only need tobring a sleeping bag anda towel.

A complete renovationwas carried out to install aheating system through-out the guesthouse, aswell as a snack bar and arestaurant.

Foods can be orderedahead of time at the res-taurant, and the bar canalso make visitors somefood. The guesthouse canhost up to 30 people.Here, there are no greatluxuries nor an extensivemenu. Water is scarce, andall supplies are broughtup by donkeys who,along with the innkeeper,are the only permanentresidents at the castle.

Reserve ahead of time:+34 971 18 21 12

Staying atthe castle

The guest house

49

The Cave of St. Anthony

The Castle in ancient times

50

Apopular tale tells of James I climb-ing up to and taking the castle:After conquering the rest of the

island of Majorca, Alaró Castle remainedin the hands of the Muslims. James I theConqueror and his troops charged thefortification by way of the path up tothe castle, as there is no otherpoint from which to mountan attack. Ever vigilant, themen in the watchtowerssaw him approaching. Be-lieving that they couldoverpower the monarch,they came down from theirtowers to apprehend him.

But they were unsuccessful; theydid not make the king retreat even onestep. The assailants themselves werequickly under attack and had to retreat,for in combat, there was no man whocould defeat King James and his horse.

On the steepest part of the approach,where the stairs begin, the king’s horsesprang up and advanced towards theenemy with such a force that it left hoofmarks on the rocks that are still visibletoday.

The animal continued onward and up-ward, like a bird, and King James swunghis sword, first to the right, then to theleft, until his adversaries’ heads flewthrough the air and their bodies fell tothe floor. The Saracens’ blood coveredeverything and even to this day it hasnot been able to be cleaned from therocks and the grass that grows in thearea.

The conqueror continued his ascentwith the Christians behind him, and

the enemies that had not fallenclimbed the stairs to lock

themselves in the castle.But, at the last moment, theking managed to preventthem from closing the

door, and he and his troopsrushed in.The besieged residents of the

rocky castle could only escape theChristians by throwing themselves fromthe heights.

To avoid hurting themselves, they putgerres (earthenware jars) over theirheads because, as a shepherd from thevalley told them, it would protect themfrom harm. It is not hard to imagine whatwas left of the gerres or of those whothrew themselves off; the largest piecethat anyone could find was no biggerthan an ear.

The conquestof James I

This hike begins inAlaró town, in theLos Damunt

neighborhood on carrerde Son Duran followingthe torrent de S’Estretand continuing next toS’Escaleta towards thehill with theCals Reis watchtower and Puigde Can Llende-rina, and finallyending up inOrient.

Along this iti-nerary, visitorswill be able tosee part of theancient Arabicwater systemthat suppliedthe town ofAlaró withwater.

The walkstarts in the LosDamunt neigh-borhood, andgoes throughplaça de Cabrit i Bassawhich contains an ele-ment that hints at theold water system thatruns through the entiretown: a cistern with amanual iron pump thatis no longer used.

Continuing upwardson carrer de Son Duranwith the torrent on theright hand side and the

Can Corona houses be-hind, the itinerary passesin front of the cases deSa Font des Jardí whichare right next to the riv-erbed. This was the firstof a system of 10 waterpowered flour mills that

were incorporated intothe qanat of the font deses Artigues (TownSpring). The mills gottheir names from theirowners: Sa Font, Ca naFara, Son Borràs, SonBieló, Son Vidal, Son Tu-gores, Son Berní, SonIbert, Es Molinás, andBànyols. In the 17th cen-tury, this spring was also

known as the font delsMolins (Spring of theMills).

The building that pro-tects the Sa Font mill isrectangular, and on topof being a grain mill, it

also doubled as a defen-sive tower.

A little further up onthis walk lays a surpri-singly large reservoir. Itwas built in 2008, andhas the capacity to hold5500 m

3of water. Built

by the Comunitat de Re-gants de la font de SesArtigues (Ses ArtiguesSpring Irrigation Com-

52

Walk from Ses Artigues to Orient

Walking around Alaró:

DIFFICULTY: EASY-MEDIUMDISTANCE: 4,4 KM.TIME: 3 HOURS AND 30 MINUTES

Cases de Sa Font des Jardí

53

The mills were mo-dest buildings withsimple machinery

that allowed for them tobe easily fixed and main-tained. The water in themain canal was divertedthrough a secondary canalthat brought it to a basin,below which was posit-ioned the mill. The force ofthe falling water wasenough to set the ma-chinery in motion. Afterbeing run through themill, the water was used toirrigate crops in the imme-diate vicinity or was storedin pools, as it could not bebrought back up to themain water system. Tracesof the ancient waterwaysare still visible over thehouses. And along thepathway, there are tracesof the canal that went to anew mill, but currently,the water is transported inpipes. The water was foreveryone; thus it had to bedistributed equally, andconsumption was strictlyregulated and structured.At some points in history,this became a divisiveissue, so in 1293, the posi-tion of siquier was createdto manage the use ofwater.

Mills

munity), the reservoir isfilled by the spring of thesame name.

Near this reservoir isthe Ses Artigues estatefrom which the qanat de-rrives its name. Thewater from the springwas diverted through asystem of uncovered ca-nals to Alaró town;today, however, it is

piped. The canals passedthrough the whole towncenter until finishingtheir circuit in the SonFortesa estate.

Following the itineraryand leaving the cases deSes Artigues on the left,visitors can see that al-most all of the cobble-stoned path has beendestroyed and replaced

with a concrete one. Itcontinues upwardsthrough a terraced areabut never strays from theriverbed.

The terracedarea in s’Estret

The terracing in thisarea was built as a resultof the parceling of com-

The water from the SesArtigues Spring was di-rected through a canalto Alaró

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munal lands between1673 and 1674, after afire devastated the s’Es-tret township. The terra-ces are crude but verysuited to the region. Forthe most part, they serveto cultivate olive groves,with some small almondorchards in the lowerpart.

There are newer buil-dings on both sides ofthe path as well as hutsthat served as places totake shelter while far-ming activities weregoing on and also forstoring tools. The pathcarries on through half-abandoned olive groves—some of which havebeen completely recove-red recently—and bas-tions of ancient holmoaks amongst encroa-ching invasive pines. Thetechnical expertise in-

volved with thestonework is im-pressive. Even theriverbed has tieredstone elements thatwere intended toreduce erosion andthe power that anonslaught of watercould produce, andtherefore enable itto be better captu-red.

The trail is unmis-takable and conti-nues up the valley,finally reaching s’Es-tret, a natural nar-row part of the valleythat gives its name tothe torrent that fo-llows visitors along partof the hike. Once pasts’Estret, the path makessome tight steep turns.

Visitors should stay onthe trail until passing theCa na Magdalena estate.

Leaving the barrier onthe left hand side, fromthe beginning of the pri-vate path towards thehouses and following theoriginal trail a little morethan 100 meters, a path-way opens up to the left.Cairns, some red marksmade with paint, andeven the name “Orient”written on the concrete,mark the way.

The path that has beentaken up to this pointmust be abandoned, andwalkers must insteadturn onto the s’Escaletatrail—the old footpathbetween Orient andAlaró.

Once on this path, it is

S'Estret torrent

difficult to lose it thanksto the quantity of mar-kers that have been putup. Here, visitors willreach the Pas de s’Esca-leta, a point where tran-sit is particularly diffi-cult; thus, a stone wallwas built and steps wereadded that act as a lad-der.

Once this bottleneck ispassed, walkers will soonreach a small flat areawith a humid oak grovewhich was used extensi-vely throughout the cen-turies by charcoal ma-kers. The large numberof barraques —simplehuts where workers tookshelter—are evidence ofthis practice, as are thescattering of remains leftbehind by the charcoalmakers and the roundareas they built to pre-pare the charcoal.

As the trail progresses,the flatter it gets, untilreaching Sa Plana, apass that is open to theVall d’Orient (Orient Va-lley). This open area is apoint where many trailsconverge, some leadingto the town of Orient andothers returning toAlaró. At the end of thepass a view of the OrientValley opens up. Orientitself is a small town withlittle more than 40 resi-dents. It is undeniably

charming, and thus it at-tracts a large number ofvisitors throughout theyear.

The trail continues andlinks up with a roadwaythat is wide enough forcarts to travel on. It wasundoubtedly designedfor the transportation ofcharcoal. The itineraryleads downwards and

eventually takes visitorsinto Orient—part of themunicipality of Bunyola.The path, over somestretches made withstone, passes by a springcalled la Fonteta andthen runs into carreterad’Orient at kilometer11.2.

Sa Plana is a pass that opens up towards Orient. This open area is apoint where many trails come together. At the far end of the pass, visi-tors are treated to a view of the Orient valley

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The thousand-year-old technique for makingcharcoal involved stacking wood in the formof a silo in a circular opening. This would be

covered with clay and branches before being setalight. This arrangement was known as a carboneror rotlo de sitja. The wood generally came from holmoak trees and had to burn slowly. Charcoal makershad to be constantly vigilant in order to get a qualityproduct. During burning sessions, which could lastdays, charcoal makers took shelter in the rudimen-tary barraques (huts), where they could catch somerest while still keeping an eye on the silos.

Charcoal makers

The Son Fortesaholm oak grove

This is a magnificentholm oak (Quercus ilex)forest in which the treescan be up to 300 or even400 years old. Somereach 30 meters in heightand 5 meters in circumfe-rence. This small grove,which is just over 10,000m2 and has been protec-ted since 2001, lays with-

in the Son Fortesa farm-land and runs up to theroadway that links Alaróand Lloseta. This forestedarea is still used today tograze the native breed ofblack pig.

Some benches locatedbetween the roadway andthe wall that marks theforest’s border allowpassersby to enjoy thebeauty of this landscape.

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Alaró’s naturalherritageThe heritage of a place is not measured solely by the architec-tural and cultural elements present—which in Alaró are note-worthy and undoubtedly make the municipality very attrac-tive—but also by the preservation of its environmental en-dowments. Treat them with respect, as the locals will lookdown on anyone who does anything to damage the area’senvironmental legacy.

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The Son Guitardpine tree

The Son Guitard pinetree is an exemplary Alep-po pine (Pinus halepen-sis). Extraordinary due toits size and age, this treeis known and loved by thepeople of Alaró. It meas-ures 23 meters high and4.5 meters in circumfer-ence, and it is estimatedto be between 250 and300 years old. The treegets its name from theSon Guitard estate whereit is located. Since 1992, ithas been a catalogued andprotected specimen.

The Sa BastidaSpring eucalyptus

This is a healthy andspectacular foreign treethat is rather uncommonin the Balearic Islands: a

eucalyptus (Eucalyptusglobulus). It is about 18meters tall, and its trunkmeasures 2 meters in dia-meter. It is located alongthe old vegetable gardennext to the Sa BastidaSpring and is estimated tobe around 100 years old.

The Sa Bastidahackberry

This hackberry (Celtisaustralis) that rises abovethe plaça de Sa Bastida inthe Los Damunt neighbor-hood has a value that goesbeyond its being amere exemplarytree. It is a fixturethat makes uppart of Alaró’s li-ving history: greatmen and leadersfrom Alaró wouldmeet here to makedecisions thatwould affect thefuture of the mu-nicipality. The treeis estimated to be200 years old; itmeasures 8 me-ters tall and has acircumference of2.6 meters.

The S’Escorxadorbanana trees

This group of conside-rably sized banana trees(Platanus orientalis) canbe found on the publicgrounds of the old slaugh-

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The Sa Bastida Springeucalyptus

The Son Guitard pine tree

The Sa Bastida hackberry

terhouse (s’Escorxador),which has been convertedinto a youth center. Someof the trees are over 25meters tall and have cir-cumferences of up to 3.7meters.

The Casa d’Amuntelm tree

A unique specimen(Ulmus minor) that mea-sures 80 centimeters indiameter and 18 meters inheight, this tree is locatedalong with a few others inthe small elm grove at the

Casa d’Amunt in the Clotd’Almadrà village. This isone of the few examplesof an elm grove that hasnot been affected byDutch elm disease (Gra-phium ulmi), a plaguethat is destroying elmtrees across Europe.

Poplars, elmtrees, and banana trees atSon Fortesa

This is a notable groupof trees that are very rarein the municipality of

Alaró: poplars (Populusnigra), elm trees (Ulmusminor), and banana trees(Platanus orientalis).They can be found on thepart of the walk to Orientthat passes through theSon Fortesa property.

The elm trees were seri-ously affected by Dutchelm disease (Graphiumulmi), but they are cur-rently recovering. As elmtrees are very rare notonly in the municipalitybut in the whole island ofMajorca, it is crucial thatthey be cared for and al-lowed to properly recover.

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The S’Escorxador banana trees Banana trees at Son Fortesa

The Casa d'Amunt elm tree

The following farm-houses are particu-larly beautiful be-

cause of their façades,which adhere to thepurest of Majorcan tradi-tions: elevated or elon-gated wall faces with un-covered stone ashlars,various types of windowsand balconies, andarched doorways.

El Clot d’Almadrà

Almadrà is a valley lo-cated in a karstic depres-

sion. It is the main path-way that leads to therefugi dels Tossals Verds(a publically cared formountain shelter) in theEscorca municipality. ElClot d’Almadrà hasthree farmhouses thatmake up a small village:Son Ordines, Can Xalet,and the Casa d’Amunt.The Casa d’Amunt is aplace name that appearsin the Llibre del Reparti-ment (Land DistributionRegistry; 1232), whichreferences one of theoldest properties inAlaró. The main façadefaces east and is clearly

divided into three levels,like the majority of Ma-jorcan houses from theera: a ground floor, amain floor, and an attic.The windows are distrib-uted evenly, and themain doorway is arounded arch with vous-soirs made out of sand-stone. On one of thesides there is a sundialwith no inscription.Other noteworthy ele-ments are the olive pressand the kiln in the backcourtyard.

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Alaró, memoriesetched in stone5

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The Clot d’Almadràbridge

The map created byCardinal Antoni Despuig(1784) has an importantpath marked on it which,shortly before reachingthe Almadrà valley,crosses a torrent with thesame name via a cobble-stone ford. Here, just be-fore getting to the housesat Son Ordines, Casad’Amunt, and Can Xalet,a bridge rises up. It is ex-actly where it is markedon the ancient map, andit is held up by wide pil-lars, suggesting that thetorrent had, and stillcould have, intense peakflowrates. Of the threerounded arches, two ofthem are similar in size(2.7 meters high by 3.65meters wide), while thethird is somewhat small-er (2.5 meters by 2.6 me-ters). The arches havestone bases and sand-stone vaults, the rest ofthe structure is made outof stone and mortar. Be-tween the two identicalopenings, at the base ofthe pillar, a semi-circularbreakwater was built tosplit the current betweenthe two archways.

Can Xalet is anotherone of the buildings inthis small village; it datesback to the 12th-13th-cen-turies. It is a three-storymanor with irregularlydistributed doors andwindows. The maindoorways are located onthe right side of the mainfaçade: one leads to theliving space and is arounded arch with avoussoirs and a keystonemade of stone, the otherleads to a chapel and hasbases, jambs, and capi-tals with moldings made

of stone, too. The chapelis decorated withBaroque paintings. Al-most all of the details onthe façade have been cre-ated with stone. The roofis made with Arabic rooftiles, and it has a bellgable with an oval arch.The agricultural annex islocated in front of themain building and ap-pears to be totally aban-doned. In front of thehayloft is a cistern thatused to provide water tothe house.

Completing the trian-gle is the 12th-century SonOrdines d’Almadrà. Itsouter doorway, locatedasymmetrically on theside of the façade istopped with a roundedarch with a stone linteland a decorativewrought iron feature.The outer doorway leadsto an entrance hall pro-tected by an archwaythat is connected to thecourtyard.

The houses are situat-ed around this squarecobblestone courtyardwhere the stately housesshare the chapel (13th-

century), the olive press

facilities, and the agricul-tural annex.

To the right of themain doorway there arefive windows with stoneframes that are barredoff with wrought iron,and on the main floor,there are another fourwindows with balconies.The veranda on the topfloor has five horizontalwindows with reliefframes. Above the en-trance hall that connectsthe outer doorway andthe courtyard, there is aterrace with an iron rail-ing.

The rectangular roomthat houses olive press islocated towards the backof the courtyard and thedate “1769” appears onthe doorway. The pressis modern; it is made ofmetal and uses hy-draulics. Next to thisthere is a room wherethe oil is stored. In thecenter of the courtyardthere is a cistern.

Solleric

Solleric is one of thelargest mountain proper-ties, and the same can be

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The main façade of Solleric

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said for the houses asso-ciated with it. The prop-erty was known in thetimes of Muslim ruleunder the name AlqueriaXular. It was also refer-enced in the 13th and14th-centuries when itwas given to the Guitardfamily after the Catalanconquest.

Solleric was a largemountain estate not just

because of the area itcovered, but also due tothe number of peoplethat worked there; itprovided permanent em-ployment to between 50and 60 people, but thosenumbers grew by 200-300 when the olive har-vest came around. By theend of the 19th-century,the estate covered 1000quarterades (equivalent

to 710 hectares) and pro-duced 120,000 tons ofhigh quality olive oil,some of the most pro-duced by any Majorcanestate. Archduke LudwigSalvator told of two olivepresses that existed onthe property, each withtwo large beam-sizedlevers. His commentsspeak to the importanceof the olive oil industry.

One of the traditional methods ofhunting in Majorca, and in particu-lar in the Tramuntana mountain

range, involves the use of nets to captureSong Thrushes. This hundreds-of-years-oldmethod is popular in Alaró, and to do it re-quires stringing a net between two longpoles to capture the birds. The poles,which are controlled by hand, connect thenet on both sides and can be up to sevenmeters long.

The Song Thrush is a 24cm tall migratorybird that can be found on the island in au-tumn and winter. During the day, the birdsmake short flights between the trees nearwhere they sleep and eat. Hunters take ad-vantage of these daily movement patternsto capture the birds. They hold the poles inthe spaces between trees where the birds

have been spotted (called colls in Catalan;it is from here that Catalan name for thishunting method, filats en coll, is derived).Once the bird gets tangled in the net, thehunter brings the two poles together, clo-sing the net and thus trapping the bird.

The hunting grounds, also called colls,have specific names derived from thenames of hunters or characteristics of theplace: es Foradet, sa Roca, es Tubo, es Pins, enMarc, na Maria, etc.

There are three times of day that aregood for hunting: at dawn, during themorning until midday, and in the eveningfrom four o’clock until sunset.

Renting out these hunting areas is one ofthe main sources of income for mountainproperties. Some people pay up to €3,000for one coll!

Song Thrushes are also used in a dishtypical to Alaró: thrushes with cabbage; itcan only be enjoyed in private homesthough, as the birds cannot be sold in res-taurants.

Hunting SongThrushes

In the 1950s, the estatepioneered equestrianbreeding (specificallymules) via artificial in-semination.

In 1966, Sollericchanged hands and be-came the property of theGilet family (current).

Springs abound on theestate (Font de saFiguera, Fuente Blanca,Font des Verro, Fontasad’Oliclar, Font de saGruta, etc.) as do tradi-tional Song Thrushhunting grounds, wherethe birds would be (andstill are) captured usingnets.

The outer doorway ismade up of a basket archwith jambs and molding.One of the stairways onthe right-hand side ofthe entrance goes downto the chapel (one of thethree porticos that canbe found on the proper-ty).

The buildings are situ-ated around a cobble-stoned courtyard that di-vides the old three-storyresidence of the lords ofthe estate, theguest/workers quarters,the building for pressingolives, the chapel (withan inscriptionfrom 1713),and the re-cently reno-vated farmingannex.

The frontface and thewindows anddoors of thefaçade of themain resi-dence arebuilt out ofstone. Thedouble- andsingle-slopedrooves aremade with

Arabic roofing tiles. The building that hous-

es the olive press can beseen by going from thecourtyard through a lin-teled archway. The presswas used up until the1980s, and some of theoriginal pieces have beenkept even though theprocess was mechanizedin the 21st century. Thebuilding is divided intotwo rooms, in the first isthe machinery where themilling and the pressingoccurs, the second iswhere the old depositsare located and wherethe olives were selectedand decanted.

The property has an18th-century chapelwhere the main doorwaybears the family coat ofarms. The chapel itselfhas only one nave with asemicircular apse thathouses a Baroque wood-en altar. The oratory isdecorated with Baroquefrescos, and there is anorgan above the choir.

The entrance to thewine cellar is locatednext to the outer door-way. The doorway to thecellar has a roundedarch, and inside there

are wineskins and am-phorae. The floor is theoriginal stonework.

Behind the buildings,there is a stable (1929)and a kiln.

Among the water-relat-ed installations are a cis-tern, a square pool, and awater reservoir locatedbehind the house.

In front of the mainfaçade are a lawn and afountain. An exteriorstaircase, with the railingand steps made out ofstone, leads to the outerfaçade. On the railingthere is a coat of armsunder which reads “Any1901” (Year 1901).

A large amount ofstone was taken fromSolleric to help buildsome of the houses inthe historic center ofAlaró town as well as themain altar in theEsglésia de Sant Bar-tomeu (Sant BartomeuChurch).

Es Verger

On the way up to AlaróCastle is the Es Vergerestate, an old farmsteadwith Arabic origins. It

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Alcadena

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was an immense piece ofland that is currently di-vided into four differentproperties.The estate’sthree houses are locatedin one area as attachedblocks. The first is theold farming annex whichhas been turned into arestaurant.

The walls are white-washed and lined ingrey.

Here, some of the mostnoteworthy elements arethe old flour mill (fromwhich some pieces havebeen preserved), part ofan olive press, and a kiln.The olive press still hasthe old hopper, the stonereceptacles covered byhalf barrel vaults, and inthe adjoining room thereare stone and ceramicreceptacles for storingthe oil. The oil that wasproduced in Es Vergerwas highly valued in thearea for its quality.

Water related elementsinclude a cistern, a pool,and a reservoir behindthe houses (camí desPouet).

Alcadena

The Alcadena estate islocated on the southernside of Puig de s’Alcade-na (s’Alcadena Peak),from which it gets itsname.

The houses located onthe property are, as withthe majority of estates inAlaró, situated around acobblestoned courtyard.The buildings includethe house of the lords,the building for olivepressing, a set of farmingannexes, stables, and ahouse for seasonal work-ers which has been re-formed into a ware-house.

Visitors enter the

courtyard through an ar-chitrave doorway withstone and wooden ash-lars. The façade of themain house is dividedinto three levels, anddoorways and windowsare distributed evenlyacross it.

The main doorway is arounded sandstone archwith jambs and a lintelcarved out of stone; therest of the doorway ismade out of antiquewood. All of the windowson the front of the build-ing are framed withpieces of stone.

To the left of the mainfaçade is a portico withwooden beams that issupported by ornament-ed columns. Under the

portico there is a smallstone sculpture of theVirgin Mary (against thewall of the main house)and some stone washbasins. A linteled door-way leads to the olivepress room, where someof the main pieces of theoriginal machine havebeen conserved: the hop-per, the drum, the wood-en beam press, the caul-dron for heating water,and a large rectangularstone receptacle wherethe oil was decanted.

Son Penyaflor

The first text that doc-umented the existence ofthese houses is from1345, and it makes refer-

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They say that in the 14th-century the love be-

tween Blanca, the daughter of an estate owner,and young Jordi, the new governor of Alaró castle

was so extraordinary that the estate was given the nameSon Penyaflor in their honor.

Three times the father of the young girl, Arnau de Vila-ragut Serralta, publicly forbade the marriage of the twobecause the young groom-to-be Jordi Unís Moncadawas a supporter of Pedro el Ceremonioso, who seizedthe Kingdom of Majorca from James III. But destinywould thrice snub Don Arnau’s denials.

When first refusing to give his daughters hand he pro-claimed, “loyal blood shall never be mixed with that of atraitor, the mountain sides will fall from the Castle beforeI allow such a union!”

That same night, a strong storm dislodged part of theAlaró Peak cliff face.

This enraged Arnau even further, so he declared, “fromthese terrible rocks bought down by the powers of hell,flowers will grow before I consent to such a wickedthing!”

Sure enough, when spring came around, violets burstforth from the fallen cliffs.

But even after this, Arnau still refused to give in. “I saidthat true loyal blood shall never be mixed with the tain-ted blood of a traitor so long as I live!”

And sure enough, the father of young Blanca died inJune, and in November, the bishop married the two lo-vers in the Cathedral of Palma.

The lovers of Son Penyaflor

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ence to the estate as theproperty of Ramón dePenyaflor, even thoughthe surname is known tohave existed since short-ly after the Reconquesta(“reconquering”). In1967, the property wasbought by the currentowners.

Son Penyaflor can bereached by the path thatleads up to Alaró Castle.The trail to the housesleads to the outer door-way with a stone lintel,above which appears aplaque with the inscrip-tion “Mare de Déu delRefugi, pregau pernoltros” (Mother of God,Virgin of the Refuge,pray for us).

The house of the lords,the guest/workers’ quar-ters, the chapel, a porticowith a kiln, a set of farm-ing annexes, and thesheep pen are all locatedaround the cobblestonedcourtyard. The whole setof buildings (especially theannexes, which are nowused for agro-tourism) un-derwent largescale reno-vations in 1966.

Once through the outerdoorway, a roundedarched entrance hallleads to the main court-yard. To the left is the

entrance to the oratorywhich still houses analtar dating from 1712.

The main house facessoutheast and is dividedinto a ground floor, amain floor, and an attic.The walls are made outof stone and mortar, andthe windows and door-ways on the main façadeare asymmetrically dis-tributed. Of note is therounded arch doorwaywith stone voussoirs.

In front of the house,there is an old ware-house that has beenturned into a loungearea. It has an archi-

traved doorway withstone jambs and a stonelintel about which lies asundial.

Today, as in days past,an indigenous race ofMajorcan sheep is stillbred and raised on theproperty.

Only the stone grind-ing wheel from the olivepress has been pre-served. The houses alsohave a covered reservoirand two springs.

Son Curt

This property is also lo-cated on the way up to

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This is the cart path that joined the road to Raiguerwith the Bànyols estate. It was described as early asthe 17th century, and was made public in 1861.

Throughout the years it has been known by various names:camí de Binissalem a Alaró per Terragrossa, camí de los Moli-ners, and camí de Bànyols. Currently, it is still the shortestpath between the municipalities of Binissalem and Alaró.

There is an important piece of cultural heritage along thepath: a 100-meter stretch of pristinely constructed stonewalk way. It lies on the border of the two municipalities. Re-garding the farmland and other buildings that make upBànyols, the old olive press can be found almost entirely in-tact along with the feeding troughs in the courtyard, a kilnalongside the house, a hayloft, a pigeon loft, a stable, a largewater tank, and a cistern.

The camí de Bànyols (TheBànyols walkway)

Inside the houses at Son Penyaflor

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Alaró Castle, and still hassome 17th-century pieces.In 1776, the estatechanged hands and JoanSampol y Ribas de Cabr-era became the owner.His decedents still ownthe property.

The houses, set up as

one block are dividedinto three distinct build-ings. The central smallerone has a certain irregu-larity to its façade as themain part seems slightlyrecessed from the rest ofit. The houses have threefloors, the ground floor

(house for the workers),the main floor (for thelords of the estate), andthe attic.

There is a linteleddoorway that has jambstopped with moldingwhich leads into themain building. Set intoone side of the doorwayis a stone bench, and onthe other side there is apoyo, a stone support forhelping one mount ahorse. Both stone ashlarsand sandstone were usedin building the mainfaçade.

Among the elementshabitually found in localestates, Son Curt stillboasts an olive presswith most of its pieces.In addition to the cis-tern, the houses getwater from a pool whichfills up with water from acanal that is connectedto the font de Son Curt(Son Curt Spring).

Bànyols

Bànyols was once afarmstead, and it has itsroots in the medievalMuslim period when itwas called Baniuls. Itmade up part of GuillemPuigdorfila’s cavalry. Alocal mosque was built,and part of it survived upto the 14th-century. Evenin modern times, Arabicceramics dating back tothe 13th-century can stillbe found near the hous-es. The property was in-cluded in the Llibre delRepartiment (Land Dis-tribution Registry). Aswith many other proper-ties in the area, this onehas a series of buildingssituated around an inte-rior courtyard, including,the main house, theworkers’ quarters, and

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The majority of estates counted their olive pressesamong their most valuable and basic installations.They were used to extract precious oil, a liquid that

was as good as money when it came to trading, whichwas important between mountain farms.

Collecting olives always took place by hand and wasdone when the olives were mature and ready to fall offthe tree by themselves. It was a laborious task that requi-red the efforts of a large number of manual laborers formany months of the year as the harvesters passedthrough the olive groves in various waves.

Once in the pressing room, the olives were milled: theywere spread out on the stone milling slab where theywere ground down into a paste. The grinding wheels, ortrulls, were turned by mules and eventually—in the se-cond half of the 20th-century—by electric motors.

Then, the paste was placed between esportins (circularpressing mats made out of esparto grass) which werethen placed one on top of another in order to retain thepulp and strain the oil and water.

Using a long beam or a press, pressure was applied to ex-tract the liquid content of the olive mash from the espor-tins. Sometimes, they were even passed through hotwater to encourage the oil to separate from the paste.

Finally, the oil was left to rest and decant, thus separatingthe watery medium from the olive oil.

The production of oil

The Son Curt library

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the agricultural annexes.The outer façade has twostories: a ground floor andan attic. The doorwaysand windows are distrib-uted symmetrically.

The outer doorway is arounded arch with stonevoussoirs. The jambs aremade out of three piecesof stone, and on top of thedoorway: the Bànyols’coat of arms.

Son Fortesa

In 1818, Pedro Maza deLimaza, Marquis of la Ro-mana, sold Son Fortesato Antoni Rosselló Pizà.The last renovations werecarried out recently by thewell-known architectRafael Moneo, whoturned the building intothe corporate headquar-ters of the footwear com-pany Camper.

The property is organ-ized around a cobble-stoned courtyard, wherethe main buildings, nowrehabilitated and reno-vated to house the corpo-rate headquarters of thewell-known companyCamper. The agriculturalannexes have been repur-posed into administrativeoffices, meeting spaces, a

convention hall, a designworkshop, etc. During therenovation the shape ofthe original structure was,for the most part, kept asit was. More modern ma-terials, such as glass andiron, were used to starkly

differentiate new ele-ments from the originalones. The main doorwayis a voussoired roundedarch with jambs all madeout of sandstone, and it istopped with the Zafortezafamily’s coat of arms(dated 1818).

The outer façade of thebuilding has several clas-sically styled, well-builtwindows with stonemolding on the cornicesand thresholds.

To the left of the maindoorway is the entranceto the chapel: a classicportico supported by cor-nices and pilasters withmoldings. Inside, thechapel’s roof displays ex-posed beams and hollowclay tiles painted withplant and figurative mo-tifs. On the side wallsthere are images of reli-gious figures.

Some of the formerbedrooms in the mainbuilding, which was theold house of the lords,have painted vault ceil-ings, or rooves withbeams and colored ce-ramic tiles.

In the middle of thecentral courtyard, there isa fountain with an octag-onal base on a circularslab and a Gothic cistern.

Some pieces, such asthe stone receptacles, stillremain from the olivepress. Above the doorwaythat leads to the olivepress room is the date“1638.”

S’Olivaret

The houses at s’Olivaretwere first referenced in1312, when Pere de Cen-

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Bànyols

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telles, the procurator forthe viscount of Bearn,gave part of the farmlandthat made up Solleric toPere Guitard, and thenewly created propertywas given the name that itbears to this day. In the16th-century it was ac-quired by Mateu Montan-er, and it has remained inhis family since then. In2000, the property un-derwent a significant ren-ovation in which the oldbuildings were trans-formed into a rural hotel.

The building is dividedinto three parts. The cen-tral body is the main one,and it has three stories: aground floor, a mainfloor, and a top floor. Thewindows and doors arelaid out symmetrically.

Inside, on the groundfloor, some parts of theold olive press have beenkept since 1762, and nowthey serve as decorationsin what is today the hotelbar.

Son Berguesor Son Berga

Son Bergues is a 17th-

century estate that wasredeveloped in a regional-ist postwar style in 1950.The project was carriedout by the architect CarlesGarau Tornabells.

In the 18th-century, lacasa Berga was passedon to the family of CanVallès d’Almadrà, andeventually the Marquisesof Solleric.

The property’s housesare grouped around acentral courtyard alongwith agricultural annexesand the animal pens.

The main doorway isencircled by stone, andabove it a sundial standsout. A Renaissance style

window that displays theBerga family’s coat ofarms is set into the samewall. Around the court-yard are the houses of thelords, the guest/workerhouse, a granary, and abuilding for storing carob.

Almost all doors andwindows facing the court-yard are linteled andframed in sandstone withmolding. During the ren-ovation an enclosed bal-cony with rounded open-

ings and which is sup-ported by corbels wasbuilt.

The doorway that leadsto the main house still hasits Renaissance design:thin columns with a clas-sical order on plinths sup-porting a lintel that dis-plays the coat of arms inthe center which distin-guishes the nobility of theBerga family, all madeout of sandstone. On topof this there is a smallapse with a figure of St.Anthony.

There are two ways toaccess the bedrooms fromthe courtyard: an exteriorstairway attached to thewall and a segmentedsandstone archway with agroin vault bridge.

Of note on the back fa-çade are the buttressesand a poyo (stone sup-port for mounting horses)

that goes from one side ofthe doorway to the other.There is a system for col-lecting water that takesadvantage of the slopedterrain. It includes a well,a pool, water tanks, andcanals, all designed tostore water and irrigatecrops.

The agricultural annex-es were built in the samestyle as the rest of thebuildings, but they havebeen adapted to be usedfor agro-tourism.

Archduke Ludwig Sal-vator described SonBerga: “This property ex-hibits a small Renais-sance window and arounded arch doorwaytopped with a sundialdating from 1756. It isworth mentioning thesmall courtyard with thecrest of the Bergues fami-ly and the small chapel.In front of the entrance,next to the flower garden,a large hackberry proudlyrises.”

Sa Teulera Vella

The houses of this 13th-

century estate can be ac-cessed from the mainrounded arch doorwaywith sandstone voussoirs,stone jambs, and lintel.The small cobblestonedcourtyard also serves afoyer to the main house,the workers’ quarters, theold doorway to the olivepressing room (which stillhas some well conservedpieces), and the roomwith the oil receptacles.

Sitting over the mainhouse is the original sun-dial. Other buildings, likethe chapel, the stables,and the flour mill (whichstill has the majority of itsparts) are attached to themain structure.

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Sa Teulera

S/19 N/21

The distinguishedfaçade has three stories(ground floor, main floor,and an attic), and thedoors and windows havea regular layout. Thedoorway is a roundedarch with stone voussoirsand jambs. To the right ofthe doorway is a round-framed window andabove that a window withthe shape of a roundedarch, perhaps addedmuch later than the restof the others. The rest ofthe windows and doorsare framed with em-bossed strips and ledgeswith molding.

The chapel is located to-wards the back of thelords’ house and is ac-cessed from a porch withthree pointed-horseshoe-shaped arches with cylin-drical columns and capi-tals with plant andCorinthian motifs.

Among the water-relat-ed features on the proper-ty are a water tank, apool, and a cistern. Thewater tank has an open-ing on the side of the of itshalf barrel vault, and thetank itself is connected tothe pool by a stone canalthat drains into the poolfrom over a roundedarch. A cistern with an oc-tagonal shape was in-stalled in the courtyardand inscribed with thedate 1778.

Pont Trencat(the BrokenBridge)

This bridge was builtover the Solleric torrentto allow for the path toRaiguer to connect withthe old roadway fromConsell to Alaró. JosepMascaró Passarius made

reference to the PontTrencat in the 16th centu-ry. It also appears drawnon a map from the end ofthe 17th century. Duringthe next 100 years manyrepairs had to be made tothe bridge due to the ris-ing water of the torrent—this is probably where thename comes from. It wasrecently restored, and thespace next to it wasturned into a recreationarea. The bridge is madeup of only one roundedarch which is built out ofsandstone, stone ashlars,and mortar. It is the pointthat separates the munici-palities of Alaró and Con-sell.

The Ses Artigues water system

Use of the Ses ArtiguesSpring goes back to theMuslim era, though themajority of installationsdesigned for water storage(tanks and cisterns) comefrom the 19th century; itwas referenced in the 1232Capbreu (legal documentassigning property rights)of Gastón de Bearn.

The system begins atthe Ses Artigues Spring infront of the Ses Artiguesestate, a little more thanone kilometer to thenorth of the town center.

Historically, the springprovided water to Alaróalong with a set of flourmills and reservoirs viacisterns and a pumpingsystem.

A large number of an-cient installations relatedto this water system stillremain in the town. Thelarge water tanks are lo-cated on the followingstreets (carrers): SonRafalet, Ca na Fara,Pujol, Síquia, Son Sitges,and es Pontarró. Thereare also tanks in the Clas-tra de Son Tugores. Thecisterns in plaça Cabrit iBassa (1866) and on car-rer des Porrassar are no-table for their architectur-al value. Original wheelpumps can be found onthe following streets: CanPintat, Porrassar, andCan Manyoles.

Throughout the townthere is another set ofpoints where water couldbe collected, but they nolonger have workingpumps; they are locatedin Son Borràs, plaça

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Pont Trencat

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Cabrit i Bassa in the LosDamunt neighborhood,in the plaça de la Vila,and on the followingstreets: Porrassar, SantVicenç Ferrer, Can Pin-tat, Son Antelm, Solleric,and Can Manyoles.

The fountain in theplaça de la Vila is locatedon the cistern which pro-vides it with water, andon it the year 1742 ap-pears in sgraffito. Thefountain is located underthe portico of the townhall, which dates to themid-20th century whenthe fountain was movedhere.

The water system alsoincludes three publicwash-houses: two smallones in the Los Damuntneighborhood (SonRafalet and Ca na Fara)and one larger one oncarrer Pontarró.

It is worth noting thatgreat focus was placed onthe mills. After the feudalconquest, ten water millswere described, buttoday, only eight havesurvived, and they are invarious states of disre-pair.

Because water was soprecious, these mills usedcovered water canals tofill a reservoir whichwould then provide ade-quate water flow. Fromthere the water floweddown from a height ontothe mill machinery.

Following the waterwayfrom the spring, the millsare situated as follows:

Molí de Sa Font,which was installed in asquare tower and can beseen from the Ses Ar-tigues pathway. Themilling machinery hasbeen preserved inside,and the milling stones areon display outside. After

running through the mill,a small canal carried thewater to nearby crops.Water no longer flowsthrough here, as the origi-nal circuit has been di-verted.

Molí de Ca Na Farais located at carrer de naFara, number 33. Themill has almost disap-peared as it has beenoverrun by the house’svegetable garden. Onlyremains from this ancientstructure are present: onewall of the tower, a basincovered by concrete, theruins of a waterway(which has a modernwater pipe laid in it), anda covered canal from themill that is very poor con-dition.

Molí de Son Borràs,which is located at carrerde Son Borràs, numbers9-11, dates back to themedieval Muslim era, likethe other mills. Part of thewater system connectingthe reservoir to the millhas been preserved. Thewaterway continued fromabove this reservoir to theSon Bieló reservoir and

came from the Ca NaFara mill.

Son Bieló can be foundat carrer de Son Sitges,number 11. In the SonBieló houses, ruins of thewaterway, which are cur-rently covered by a metal

grate, can be seen. Theyare still used for drainage.Only part of the mill hassurvived, the rest has col-lapsed.

Molí de Son Vidal isat carrer Síquia, num-bers 21-23. Remains ofthe mill and part of thewaterway are located inthe main room in thehouse. Part of the coveredwater way leading fromthe reservoir has beenpreserved, as have themilling stones, the waterwheel, and the water de-posit.

Son Tugores is locat-ed at carrer clastra deSon Tugores (no num-ber). From Son Vidal, thewaterway runs into thelarge Son Tugores reser-voir (35 by 5 meters). Partof the waterway that con-tinues on to Son Berní isvisible on the façade of

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The Moli de Sa Font (Sa Font Mill)

the houses. The old millthat was once housedhere has been kept up bythe Alaró town hall.

Molí de SonBerní on pas-satge de SonBerní (no num-ber) is a mill withtwo rectangularbuildings, rightnext to eachother. Not muchis left of them ex-cept the ruins ofthe main canaland anothersmaller canal(65cm wide and45cm deep)which can be ac-cessed by climb-ing ten steps. Youcan also see thepart of the water-way that led tothe reservoir.

Molí de Son Ibert islocated on carrer de SonIbert (no number). Theestate originally had twomills and one water way;but, only pieces are leftof the first mills, and thereservoir has beenturned into a swimming

pool. The second largermill is integrated into theSon Ibert houses, andonly the outer walls re-main. Some elements

from the two mills stillremain, like the millingstones. The 100-meterlong and 1.5-meter widewaterway comes fromSon Berní, links the firstand second Son Ibertmills, and then continuestowards es Molinàs.

Es Molinàs is the lastmill, and it is located atcarrer Manyoles, num-ber 177. Visible are the1.25-meter wide and 3-

meter high water-way, the coveredcanal which hasnow been fittedwith modernpipework, and themilling stones. Theestate has been re-cently reformed al-though the gardenthat was irrigatedby the waterwaystill remains.

The mills haveundergone manychanges through-out the years.Many of them have

been aban-doned or re-converted: one

was transformed into apaper factory that wasused from the end of the19th to the beginning ofthe 20th century.

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The pump on carrer de Can Manyoles

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Alaró and its festivalsThe celebrations that take place in the Los Damunt and LosDavall neighborhoods are deeply rooted in the town’s history.And throughout the years, new activities have been incorpo-rated into the celebrations and fused with traditional ones.

6

JanuarySt. Anthony(Sant Antoni)January 17

The celebrations sur-rounding St. Anthony,patron saint of animals,are carried out in largepart on the eve of the ofthe feast, that is, thenight of January 16. Theinhabitants of Alaró grilllocal sausages (llonga-nisses and botifarrons)over the countless firepits that are lit in themiddle of the town’sstreets. While there, you

must make your waythrough to any of thegrills that are set up andshare one of the grilleddelicacies along with aglass of local wine.

On this same night,Alaró’s Colla de Dimonis(group of Devils) makestheir first appearance ofthe new year.

Los Dimonis d’Alaró(the Devils of Alaró)

Fire is a universal sym-bol that leads to uneasi-ness and wonder, and itis intrinsically linked tothe world of the devil.

The Dimonis perform-ance in Alaró began in

1998 when they hadtheir first correfoc (liter-ally “fire-run”). Duringthis event a large groupof individuals dress up asdevils and light fire-crackers in the streets.They march and danceto the rhythm of drums,and they chase specta-tors under the lightmade by their sparklingfirecrackers.

A large part of the per-formance is centeredaround Na Marranxa, amonster that comesfrom the depths of hellspitting fire! She is rep-resented by a fantasticalmagic bat who in name

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alone strikes fear in chil-dren and takes form toparticipate in the beastlyspectacle.

There is a group ofyoung children dedicatedto replicating all of the de-tails organized by theadults, including a NaMarranxeta, a smallerversion of the monstrousbat.

These dances with thedevil take place threetimes during the year inAlaró: on the eve of theFeast of St. Anthony (16January), the Feast of St.Roch (16 August), andduring the autumn festi-val at the beginning ofOctober.

The group of Dimonisfrom Alaró participate inperformances all overMajorca, in fairs, festivals,and other events whenev-er they are invited.

The festivities sur-rounding St. Anthony areannounced days before-hand by the picarolada,the youngest Dimonis,who weave through thetown’s streets ringingcowbells. They are ac-companied by St. Antho-

ny, characterized as a her-mit, and the whole groupis chased by a devil.

In the afternoon on theday of the Feast of St. An-thony, the town cele-brates Ses Beneïdes, anancient celebration inwhich pet owners—in-stead of the shepherds ofdays gone by—bring theiranimals to the Sant Bar-tomeu Church so that thepriest may be sprinklethem with holy water inorder to protect themfrom harm during the fol-lowing year.

MarchAprilEaster

As is customary in themajority of Spain, in Ma-jorca religious events arewidely celebrated.

The Holy Week repre-sents the most intensetime of celebration in theCatholic Church, and itserves to remember thePassion, death, and res-urrection of Jesus Christ.

Over these days, variousprocessions take place,and many different reli-gious fraternities andsororities participate,each carrying a figure ofJesus or the Virgin Maryaccompanied by a scenefrom the Passion.Throughout the HolyWeek, and until Easter,the celebration com-memorates the resurrec-tion of Jesus Christ.

There are five fraterni-ties in Alaró: Virgen delSilencio (dressed inblack with twine belts),Nuestra Señora de la Es-peranza (dressed ingreen), Sagrado Corazón

de Jesús (dressed inred), Virgen de Lourdes(dressed in sky blue),and Verge del Refugi(dressed in black withwhite hoods). Betweenthem, they carry fourpassos processionals(elaborate religiousfloats depicting anepisode of the Passion ofChrist).

The processions areheld on the nights ofHoly Thursday and GoodFriday.

On Easter Sunday,early in the morning, at

Fire on the eve of the Feast of St. Anthony (Sant Antoni)

Holy Week Procession

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the intersection knownas Sa Creu (the cross),the passo processionalthat represents Jesusmeeting his mother(called la processó delEncuentro) takes place.

The pieces that are pa-raded through thestreets are original 18th-

century carvings.

Pancaritat:the Feast of the Angel

On the Sunday afterEaster, the Feast of theAngels is celebrated byhundreds of people whoparticipate in a religiouspilgrimage to Alaró cas-tle.

May

The May Feastof the VirginMary

On the last Saturday ofMay, to celebrate theMonth of Maria, the

Cossiers (traditional Ma-jorcan dancers) dancethrough the streets of theLos Damunt neighbor-hood. This group ofseven dancers, accompa-nied by a Devil figure,make their way throughthe streets while puttingon four traditionaldances that have stoodthe test of time. Theseperformances are a mixbetween dance and the-ater in which the Damefigure sings as a sceneplays out around her.They always end with afinal act in which theDevil is defeated.

The dance of theCossiers

The dance of theCossiers is one of theoldest dances still prac-ticed in Majorca. It hasbeen documented backto at least the 16th-centu-ry. The Archduke Lud-wig Salvator (19th-centu-ry) described theCossiers in detail in hisbook Die Balearem,which he wrote while hewas traveling around theBalearic Islands. Therehas been much specula-tion as to the origin ofthe term “Cossier,” andone of the most plausibleconjectures suggests thatit comes from cós: thearea in a town wherelocal races are run. Thistheory is given credit asthe ribbons that hangfrom their waistbandscould be consideredprizes from previousraces set up along the cósexclusively for thedancers.

Pancaritat at the Castle

The Cossiers dance in the Los Damunt neighborhood

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The origin of theCossiers’ dance is veryold. It has been relatedto archaic dances of ado-ration and worship cere-monies of farmingdeities. Obviously, theyhave been changedthroughout the cen-turies, most notably inthe dress, rhythm, andorganization of thedance. The Cossiersevolved and coexistedwith the appearance ofdifferent religions, thusbecomingcamou-flaged toensuretheir sur-vival. InAlaró thedance wasrecoveredin 1992afterdecades ofbeing for-gotten.

Sixdancers(the so-calledCossiers) and the Dame(who oversees the move-ments) participate in theperformance. Anotherfigure, the Devil, comple-ments the Cossiers. He isrepresented by a persondressed in a burlap suitcovered with red and yel-low strips of fabric andwearing horns and amask. He distracts spec-tators by leaping andtwirling about and occa-sionally crashing hishuge club down onto theground. Of course, he iscareful not to hurt theyoung and old spectatorswatching the perfor-mance.

While all Cossiers’ out-fits are similar (withstrips of fabric, similarbolo-style ties, kilts, can-

vas shoes—called alpar-gatas, and a sash run-ning across the chest),they do differ slightly be-tween municipalities. InAlaró, the dancers or-ganize themselves inpairs according to color:red, pink, and sky blue.The hats they wear areBaroque in style, and atone point, similar vest-ments were common forall dancers. It is a kind ofcrown or miter made outof rigid cardboard with

coloredfabric tomatch thecolor of therest of thedress, andit isadornedwith smallsequinsand bells,flowers,and fivelargewoolen tas-sels.

TheDame

wears a very lady-likeblouse and organdy skirtwith white lace and col-ored strips of fabric. Shealso has a straw hat.

Years ago, the Cossiershad many dances, butonly a few have been re-covered recently: LaProcessó (the Proces-sion), L’Oferta (the Of-fering), Sa Cadena (theChain), and La GentilSenyora (the Gentle-woman). They are ac-companied by only twosongs.

In Alaró, the Cossiersonly perform twice peryear: during the Festa dela Mare de Déu de Maig(May’s Feast of the Vir-gin Mary) and the Au-gust 16 festa de Sant Roc(the Feast of St. Roch),

who is the patron saintof Alaró.

The only way to enjoythe dances put on by theCossiers of Alaró is to seethem up close. Then, youcan see the dancers’most significant and in-tricate elements andmovements.

June

St. Peter (Sant Pere)June 29

The patron saint of theLos Damunt neighbor-hood is St. Peter, andduring the days leadingup to June 29, variousactivities and festivitiesare carried out in cele-bration.

These celebrations alsoserve to mark the begin-ning of summer. Theyare almost exclusivelyparticipated in by localresidents of Alaró.Thanks to this and thesetting in which theytake place, they are remi-niscent of festivals thattook place long ago inMajorcan villages.

August

St. Roch (Sant Roc)August 16

The festival for the pa-tron saint of Alaró is cel-ebrated during the weekpreceding August 16, theday that commemoratesthe 17th-century eradica-tion of the plague by St.Roch as he answered theprayers of the faithful.

This is an intense weekof fun and cultural activ-ities, including: thedances of the Cossiers,

The Feast of St. Peter(Sant Pere)

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the Corregudes de Joies(the races of the jewels),las Carrosses, the reli-gious procession, the ap-pearance of the Cabritand Bassa Gegants (lit-erally “Giants,” theselarge clothed papier-mâché figuresrepresent the fa-mous martyrsfrom Alaró,Cabrit andBassa), perfor-mances by theDimonis, open-air art exhibi-tions, and vari-ous concerts andopen-air dances.

The Cossiersand Carreresde Joies (theraces of the je-wels)

During the feast of thepatron saint, St. Roch,on August 16, at midday,the traditional Carreresde Joies are held. Theyare a series of races withprizes for the winners—

joies or jewels hung fromgreen rods.

The races are run tothe tune of traditionalmusic which employs theflabiol (a 25cm longwoodwind flute), thetamborí (a small percus-

sion instrument), andxeremies (bagpipes).

The competition be-gins with a race amongthe Cossiers, this alsomarks the end of theirmorning dances. Thisrace starts at 10 o’clockin the morning in the

plaça de la Vila, and thetrack winds through var-ious points in the towncenter. They even have alittle dance in front ofthe Mayor’s residence.

Part of the tradition in-volves organizing races

exclusively for themembers of theCossiers.

Floats

Since 1973, onthe day precedingthe Feast of St.Roch (August 15), atypical summercarnival paradetakes place. Alaróresidents dress upand parade downthe street in floats

ranging from classically-styled to purely fantasti-cal, and decorated withfun, socially critical, orsatirical elements. Afterthe parade, prizes areawarded to the top par-ticipants.

Floats in a parade

The gegants during the Feast of St. Roch (Sant Roc)

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The procession

During the afternoonon the day of the Feast ofSt. Roch a religious pro-cession centered aroundthe image of St. Roch(which is known locallyby the diminutive “SantRoquet” due to its size)takes place. It goes ac-companied by theCossiers through thestreets in the town cen-ter.

The Gegants of Alaróand the Dimonis

Since the year 2000,two new figures havebeen included into thetown’s festivities and cel-ebrations: the gegants(literally “Giants,” hugepapier-mâché andclothed figures) of Cabritand Bassa.

They measure morethan four meters tall andrepresent the folk heroeswho valiently defendedAlaró Castle. The ge-gants parade about ac-companied by musicfrom traditional instru-ments: the flabiol (a

25cm long woodwindflute), the tamborí (asmall percussion instru-ment), and xeremies(bagpipes). The largerthan life figures meet upin the main plaza withother gegants from vari-ous towns. There endsup being more than 30for both young and oldto enjoy.

The festivities sur-rounding the patronsaint end with a correfoc(literally “fire-run”) inthe plaça de la Vila.During this event, peopledressed up as Dimonis(devils) chase spectatorswith fire crackers anddance about to therhythm of drums.

September

The Nativity ofthe Virgin Mary

On the first Sunday inSeptember the Feast ofthe Nativity of the VirginMary is celebrated with ahike up to Alaró Castleand a communal meal in

front of the oratory.

Fairs and Markets

Weekly markets

Every Saturday morning,the plaça de la Vila turnsinto a marketplacewhere visitors can findall sorts of foods and ar-tisanal products fromAlaró, as well as the lat-est in fashion, and evenflowers and plants.

The autumn fair

At the beginning of Octo-ber, the autumn craft fairputs on display a variedsample of the wide rangeof local handiwork. Inthe most recent in-stances, both recreation-al and commercial activi-ties (for example, cook-ing shows and tastings oflocal wines) have beenincorporated into fair toliven it up.

Crafts on sale at the autumn fair

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE

The original version of this text was written in Spanish,and thus this English version is an adapted version of theSpanish one. This caused occasional inconsistencies as theplaces, events, names, and features pertaining to Alaró aretypically written and spoken in Catalan. For consistency’ssake, and to make it easier for reader’s to communicatewith locals and better understand the environment, placenames were (generally) left in Catalan. As the documentwill often be read only partially, the names of streets, pla-zas, geographical features, etc., as well as non-place-nameCatalan words have been italicized throughout the docu-ment. The names of specific establishments, people, andtowns, as well as English translations for place names arenot italicized.

1. Alaró and its geography 1

2. The roots of Alaró 5

3. Walking around Alaró

CENTER OF TOWNALARÓ CASTLEWALK FROM SES ARTIGUES TO ORIENT

164052

15

4. Alaró’s natural herritage 57

5. Alaró, memories etched in stone 61

6. Alaró and its festivals 75

Alaró: map of the town center 82

Alaró: map of the municipality 84

Alaró Travel GuidePublisher: Ajuntament d’AlaróPhotography: Giorgio Gatti, Maria Antònia Miró, Lola Gómez, B. Ramon,Joan Vicenç Lillo, Al rum archives and the Town Hall archives.Ilustrations: Miquel JaumeLayout: NogueraEnglish translation: Daniel Mosblack

DL: PM 1103-2016

index