Mallorca Travel: Historic
Luxury Accommodation at Finca Son Pont and Dinner
in Banyalbufar
With my love for the Spanish language and my fascination
for Mediterranean landscapes, the island of Mallorca
has been one of my dream destinations for a long
time. A couple of months ago or so I had finally
decided that 2009 was going to be year for my visit
to Mallorca. Spring is the perfect time to visit
southern Europe – the weather is usually great,
and the hordes of Northern European tourists have
not arrived yet.
So I had booked a very affordable flight from Graz
to Palma de Mallorca with Flyniki, an Austrian-based
low cost airline that flies to a variety of popular
tourist destinations across Europe. It is owned
by none other than famous former Formula One race
car driver Niki Lauda. Around mid-morning my brother
dropped me off at the quaint Thalerhof Flughafen
south of Graz, Austria’s second largest city.
There I met my friend Gary who was going to come
along on this trip.
After a brief coffee on the outdoor terrace we
were ready to board our flight and barely an hour
and a half later we landed in the capital of Mallorca,
Palma de Mallorca. Shortly after picking up our
luggage and our small rental car we were off to
our first destination: Finca Son Point in the village
of Puigpunyent.
The gorgeous courtyard of Finca Son Pont
Barely 12 kilometres outside of Palma after a nice
stretch of country road and a long winding tree-covered
driveway we had arrived at our destination for tonight:
a former farm and historic country hotel called
Finca Son Pont. My first impression was that the
stone mansion with the large inner courtyard was
reminiscent of an Arab castle.
It did not take long to find the person in charge:
Hector, in his 70s who hails from Argentina and
looks after the daily running of this rural hotel.
He warmly welcomed us and showed us to our suite
which consisted of a bedroom and a private sitting
room. Our suite was located inside a separate building
with four bedrooms that featured a large central
living area and an expansive outside deck with comfortable
deck chairs and seating arrangements for the guests.
A new swimming pool was beckoning a few steps away
down from the terrace.
A beautiful sitting area in our private retreat
The view from our country retreat was just perfect:
Finca Son Pont covers 140 hectares or about 345
acres and is embedded in a verdant valley, surrounded
by craggy pine-covered limestone peaks. My eyes
took in this splendid 360 degree panorama of serenity.
My travel partner and I both thought it would be
great to spend more than one night here.
I got myself organized and as usually I started
a stroll around the property to document this historic
mansion. Hector joined me and showed me the Tower
Room, a great guest room with a private bathroom
that is located in a tower of the main U-shaped
complex. This tower used to be the estate’s
library and now welcomes guests from all over the
world.
Great view over the valley from the Tower Room
Minutes later the owner of the property arrived:
Francisco Feliu, a dynamic man in his late thirties
who works in international trade development for
the European Union. Finca Son Pont has been in his
family’s possession for generations. With
a bright smile he said hello and welcomed me. He
joined me and started to give me a tour of the entire
property.
First he took me into the private area of the estate
which includes two formal reception rooms that feature
historic paintings and furniture. The family portraits
cover five generations of Francisco’s family,
and I realized quickly that family pride and traditions
are very important at Finca Son Pont.
Francisco in the historic salon
Francisco explained that Finca Son Pont used to
be a farm that produced olive oil and even wine.
Almonds continue to be harvested, and about 300
sheep graze here to provide high-quality organic
meat. This finca is one of many historic agricultural
properties that dot the countryside in the interior
of Mallorca.
Coming downstairs from the formal living rooms
Francisco took me into the chapel, which indeed
featured an altar and several pews. After turning
on the automatic piano, Francisco added that people
still request to get married here. He also showed
me several priest’s vestments that were waiting
in a side room for another ceremony.
The chapel at Finca Son Pont
A few steps in the back is the oldest part of Finca
Son Pont: the press room for the olive press. Finca
Son Pont was reportedly begun in 1476, but this
portion of the mansion dates back to Arab times
and last witnessed an olive oil pressing about 50
years ago. Horses used to turn a huge grindstone
which produced oil cakes that were moved to a second
contraption with a big wooden beam that would squeeze
the oil out of the olives. Hot boiling water was
added to the oil cakes to ease the release of the
olive oil. Various other vintage pieces of equipment
in this room testified to the agricultural history
of Finca Son Pont.
We then walked across to the main part of the mansion
that houses the guest breakfast room and a large
sitting room. Francisco explained that the breakfast
room was a former kitchen that was anchored by an
open fireplace. The fireplace has long since been
closed up and a cozy sitting area was installed
around the remaining chimney. Several tables welcome
guests for breakfast and the other side of the room
features a stone cistern, an ancient water collection
tank.
Cozy sitting area by the fireplace
Francisco fondly recollected growing up on the
estate, and sitting down for meals with the farm
workers in this former kitchen. He also used to
drink the rainwater that was collected in the cistern.
Next door is now a spacious sitting room for the
guests which features oversize white sofas and great
views of the countryside. Francisco added that early
spring is a beautiful time here because the white
almond blossoms are reminiscent of snow. This sitting
room was incidentally used as a barrel storage area
for olive oil in former times.
Former barrel storage area, now a nice sitting area
Finca Son Pont has five guest rooms, and Francisco
is working on constructing three more. He added
that the Mallorcan government has very strict guidelines
for renovations, and new construction is generally
forbidden in most areas. Wireless Internet service
is available throughout the property to guests who
wish to stay connected.
Having only had a tiny sandwich during my flight
I was seriously getting hungry now as we were approaching
6 pm in the evening. I asked Francisco for some
advice for a nice restaurant by the sea where we
would be able to have an enjoyable dinner, next
to the Mediterranean. He recommended us to drive
to Banyalbufar, an ancient village on the north
coast of Mallorca.
Francisco and Hector
Shortly after this we were in our little rental
car, enjoying the scenic ride on tight, twisting
mountain roads. It took us a good twenty minutes
to reach the coastline although we probably had
covered only 15 kilometres. The steep north coastal
mountains of Mallorca were plunging into the sea,
creating stunning vistas from various lookout points.
Another 20 minutes eastward along the coast we
had finally reached our dinner destination: Banyalbufar,
a small village that is patched up against a terraced
hillside. The terraces had been created many centuries
ago by the Moors who lived on the island roughly
from the 10th to the 13th century. They were renowned
for their agricultural skills and their knowledge
of irrigation which involved terraced growing areas.
What an amazing Mediterranean view in Banyalbufar!
As the restaurants would not serve dinner until
7:30 pm we had about an hour and started to stroll
through town. On the eastern end of town we found
a little establishment called Café Bellavista
that featured an absolutely astounding view from
its terrace over the town and the Mediterranean
Sea, dozens of metres below. We sat down for about
half an hour and enjoyed a cold drink against this
ultra-scenic backdrop.
Finally, 7:30 pm came closer and it was time to
look for dinner. We found an attractive restaurant
called San Thomas at the eastern end of town and
sat down on the outdoor patio, which offered us
a great view over the small bay of Banyalbufar.
We started off our dinner with an order of “pan
y aceitunas con alioli”, delicious fresh Mallorcan
bread with olives, accompanied by a garlic-flavoured
mayonnaise sauce. After this tasty appetizer my
friend enjoyed a plate of calamari while I had ordered
a salad with hot goat cheese.
My colourful salad
It was great enjoying our leisurely dinner in the
warm evening air while the orange sun was slipping
into the Mediterranean Sea. Our 45 minute drive
along the narrow, winding roads was not a problem
since there was virtually no traffic when we headed
back to Finca Son Pont.
Day one of my Mallorcan adventure had been a resounding
success. I was already curious what else this island
would have in store for me during the next ten days.