Palma

Palma began as a Roman camp, founded after the conquest of Mallorca in 123 BC on the remains of a Talayotic settlement, and served as the island's port for Africa and Hispania. Vandal raids and Byzantine rule followed, and from 902 the city was under Muslim control as Madina Mayurqa, capital of the island under the emirate of Córdoba, the taifa of Dénia and later the Almoravids, growing rich on trade and on piracy. A Catalan-Pisan expedition sacked it in 1115, and the Almohads took it in 1203.

On 31 December 1229, after a three-month siege, James I of Aragon captured the city and named it Ciutat de Mallorca. As capital of the Kingdom of Majorca it entered a golden age of trade with Catalonia, Provence, the Maghreb and the Italian republics, and James II of Majorca built Bellver Castle and rebuilt the Almudaina. Majorcan mapmakers flourished: the Jewish cartographer Cresques Abraham produced the Catalan Atlas. In 1391 anti-Jewish riots swept the island, and later the Inquisition persecuted the descendants of converts, the xuetes.

Pirate raids and the Revolt of the Brotherhoods began a long decline in the 16th century, and the 17th was torn by feuding factions known as Canamunt and Canavall. The Nueva Planta decrees of 1715 followed the defeat of the Crown of Aragon in the War of the Spanish Succession. Trade with the Americas revived it in the 18th century, and in 1833 it became capital of the new Balearic province. Mass tourism from the 1950s transformed it, as hotels went up along Platja de Palma and charter flights brought organised groups of holidaymakers from Germany and elsewhere.

Palma is a Catalan-speaking city, and Mallorcan identity runs deep: locals still call it Ciutat, the city, and 31 December, the day James I entered it in 1229, is celebrated as Mallorca's national day with the Festa de l'Estendard. The city's patron is Sant Sebastià, whose festival in January fills the streets with concerts, bonfires and grills. The philosopher Ramon Llull was born here in the 13th century, and the Xueta families, descendants of converted Jews, remain part of the city's history.

The arts have a strong presence. Joan Miró made his home on the edge of the city from 1956 until his death in 1983, and his studios are now a museum; Es Baluard shows modern and contemporary art; and the Palau March holds sculptures by Henry Moore, Chillida and Rodin. Gaudí's work inside the cathedral is a reminder of the links with Barcelona.

Sport is followed closely. RCD Mallorca play football at Son Moix, and the city has produced the motorcycle champions Jorge Lorenzo and Joan Mir. With the bay on its doorstep, sailing and other sea sports are central to local life, and the cycling season opens with the Vuelta a Mallorca. Palma has also absorbed waves of incomers, from workers from mainland Spain in the tourist boom to migrants from Africa and South America in recent decades.

About 438,000 people lived in the city in 2024 and about 550,000 in its urban area — almost half of Mallorca's population — and around 29 per cent of residents were born abroad. The municipality stretches from the western hills along the bay to the beach resorts of the east, and even includes the distant Cabrera archipelago.

Tourism dominates: it provides about 80 per cent of the island's economy, and Palma's airport handled more than 33 million passengers in 2024. It has also driven up housing costs, and in 2024 Palma saw large protests against overtourism and its effect on the cost of living and housing. Agriculture still matters, with almonds, oranges, lemons and olives the main products, and the city is the seat of the regional government, the parliament and the university.

Most residents live outside the old town, in districts that ring the centre, in the suburbs climbing towards the hills and in the coastal neighbourhoods of the bay. Life follows the season: summer brings crowds, cruise ships and long working days in hotels and restaurants, while winter is quieter and more local, with the cafés, markets and squares left largely to the people who live here.

Mallorcan cooking is built on pork, bread, olive oil and vegetables. Sobrassada is a raw cured sausage of ground pork, paprika, salt and spices, tied to the autumn and winter pig slaughter, the matança; Mallorca grows its own paprika pepper, the Tap de Cortí, which gives colour, aroma and taste to the island's cold meats. Tombet layers fried potatoes, aubergines and red peppers and is found in almost every local restaurant, often beside fish or meat. Other island dishes include sopes mallorquines, a dish of vegetables, broth and slices of bread; and arròs brut, saffron rice cooked with chicken, pork and vegetables.

The ensaïmada is Mallorca's spiral pastry, made with strong flour, eggs, sugar, mother dough and saïm, a reduced pork lard that gives it its name, dusted with sugar and sold plain or filled. Bakeries also sell coques, flat breads similar to pizza but without cheese, panades, pasties of lamb and peas, and robiols, pastries filled with cottage cheese or jam.

Palma's markets supply much of this. The Mercat de l'Olivar, in a hall opened in 1951, and the Mercat de Santa Catalina, founded in 1920, sell fish, meat, fruit and vegetables, and Santa Catalina has pastry shops and bars among its stalls. Red wines come from the island's Binissalem and Pla i Llevant areas.