Palma de Mallorca

Palma de Mallorca is the capital of the Balearic Islands in Spain, situated along the Bay of Palma on Mallorca. Painter Joan Miró established an expansive creative studio here during the 1950s and spent his later artistic life on the island. The bay hosts prestigious international sailing regattas including the annual Copa del Rey yachting competition.

The Port of Palma processes scheduled passenger car ferries and roll-on maritime container freight shipments connecting the island with mainland Spanish harbors in Barcelona and Valencia. Astilleros de Mallorca repairs and refits international sailing superyachts and motor vessels, providing custom naval carpentry, metal hull fabrication, and mechanical engine overhaul services in the commercial harbor basin. Meliá Hotels International manages worldwide luxury holiday resorts under the Gran Meliá trade brand, while Barceló Group operates vacation hotels and corporate travel agency networks.

Roman consul Quintus Caecilius Metellus founded Palma in 123 BC after maritime campaigns against Mediterranean pirates. Moorish rulers incorporated the settlement into the Emirate of Córdoba during the 10th century, constructing the fortified Medina Mayurqa with stone ramparts and public bathhouses. King James I of Aragon conquered the settlement in 1229, integrating the island territory into the Crown of Aragon. The settlement flourished as an autonomous maritime trading post under the Kingdom of Mallorca during the 13th and 14th centuries. Stone bastions arose around the perimeter during the 16th century to safeguard harbor shipping against North African corsairs.

Palma Cathedral displays Catalan Gothic architecture above the harbor, illuminated by an enormous stained-glass rose window measuring 12 m (39 ft) across. Bellver Castle crowns a pine-covered hillside as a rare circular Gothic fortress built during the 14th century with detached defensive towers. The Royal Palace of La Almudaina preserves a Moorish alcázar fortress rebuilt by Aragonese monarchs into an official royal state residence. Es Baluard Museum curates contemporary Mediterranean paintings and modern sculptures within the vaulted stone casemates of a historic Renaissance bastion.