Living in Mallorca: An Honest Guide to Life on the Island

Living in Mallorca is not what appears in the brochures. We have had our feet on the ground in the southeast of the island since 2010 — Ses Salines, Santanyí, Campos, the Colònia de Sant Jordi, Felanitx — and that is why we would rather show you what a Tuesday in November is like here, once the tourists have gone and the island finds its real rhythm again. This is our honest guide to how life on the island genuinely works: its rhythms, its areas, its climate month by month and what almost no one tells you before you move.

We know the island in depth, and we believe the best way to help you take the step is to tell you the reality, with its light and its shade: Mallorca is an extraordinary place to live, but also a real place, with its seasons and its contrasts.

The first thing you discover is that there are two Mallorcas. There is the summer one — July and August, with a little of June and September — luminous, full, the coves overflowing and an energy that never stops. And there is the other, the one of the remaining eight months, the one that wins over those who stay: a calm island where you park without effort, the village breathes at ease and you go down to a deserted beach on a winter Tuesday.

Living here is, above all, living on a different scale. Almost everything is close, life turns around the village and the market, and the seasons set the tempo more than the clock. It is not a slow pace out of laziness, but out of choice. Those who come looking for that — nature, sea, good food and real time — rarely regret it; those who expect a big city on an island sometimes do.

Mallorca is not one place but many, and choosing your area is the most important decision. Here is our honest overview, with the good and the less good of each (and if you want the detail area by area, we break it down in the best areas to live in Mallorca):

• Palma and its bay. The only real city on the island: culture, restaurants, life all twelve months and the airport next door. For anyone who wants an urban feel and less dependence on the car. In return, more traffic and less silence.
• The southwest (Andratx, Santa Ponça, Bendinat). The most cosmopolitan, marina-facing Mallorca, very international and well connected to Palma. Ideal if you want a foreign community and premium services; less so if you are after an authentic village.
• The Serra de Tramuntana (Sóller, Deià, Valldemossa). Mountains, stone villages and a landscape declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Beautiful, but with winding roads and an even more secluded pace.
• The north (Pollença, Alcúdia). Huge bays, charming old towns and a balanced middle ground between nature and services. It lives a great deal in summer and draws in for winter.
• The southeast (Ses Salines, Santanyí, Campos, Colònia de Sant Jordi, Felanitx). Our home: open countryside, towns with a life of their own, the finest unspoilt beaches and an authenticity that is already hard to find elsewhere. Less shop window, more real life.
• Es Pla (the centre). The agricultural heart of the island, of quiet towns and gentler prices, for anyone who does not need the sea at the door and is after complete calm.

We could work anywhere on the island, but we chose the southeast, and not by chance. Here you find things that are hard to come by together: unspoilt beaches like Es Trenc, towns that remain towns, an agricultural interior of country estates and almond trees, and a life of market and produce that has not surrendered to mass tourism.

Ses Salines is a small village with character, which gives its name to salt pans worked since Punic and Roman times, among the oldest in the Mediterranean. Santanyí, with its golden-stone old town, is the great meeting point of the area. Campos is farming Mallorca at its finest, land of country people. The Colònia de Sant Jordi is the seaside town, with its harbour and its boats. And Felanitx adds vineyards, the Sant Salvador monastery crowning its mountain and, on the coast, Portocolom, one of the loveliest and most authentic natural harbours on the island. Each has its own soul, and all share one thing: here you live facing the whole year. We walk through them one by one in our guide to the most beautiful villages to live in Mallorca.

One of the greatest luxuries of living here is having the sea as an extension of the house: going down for a swim before supper in June, walking an empty cove in November, or knowing which one is sheltered depending on where the wind is blowing from.

The southeast gathers some of the best beaches on the island: the great unspoilt sands of Es Trenc, the turquoise coves of the Santanyí coast, the protected beaches beside the Colònia de Sant Jordi. And living nearby, you enjoy them out of season, which is when they are truly yours. We tell it area by area in our guide to the best beaches and coves of Mallorca.

Here is the great misunderstanding: many people believe Mallorca is sun and beach all year, and it is not. The climate is Mediterranean and mild, but with four clearly marked seasons, and understanding them is understanding how you really live on the island.

Winter (December to February). Mild but real: luminous, temperate days that invite a walk, alternating with rain and the odd storm. Between late January and February the fields fill with almond blossom, one of the loveliest sights of the year. It is the intimate Mallorca of the fireside, the market and the quiet village.

Spring (March to May). For many, the finest season. The countryside bursts into green, the temperature is perfect for walking and cycling, and the sea begins to tempt. Everything open, but without the pressure.

Summer (June to September). The heat builds — July and August are intense and humid — and the liveliest months arrive, with the island in full swing. June and September are the jewel: warm sea and fewer people.

Autumn (October to November). The best-kept secret. The sea is still mild, the light is golden and the island breathes again: it is when those who live here remember why they stayed. We tell it season by season in our guide to the climate of Mallorca month by month.

Eating well in Mallorca is easy; eating well from here is a way of life. The island has an enviable pantry — vegetables from Campos, fish from the market, oil from the Tramuntana, wine from Felanitx, flor de sal from the salt pans of the south — and a rooted cooking that runs from tumbet to sobrasada and the ensaimada.

But the best of it is not only in the big names, but in the village celler, the Saturday market and the produce of the land. In the southeast there are houses that are genuine institutions — such as Casa Manolo, in Ses Salines, or Cassai, Triple and Estarellas — places with pedigree where you eat properly and which you enjoy all the more when someone who lives here shows them to you. We go into it in detail in our guide to the food of Mallorca.

Mallorca is a first-rate open-air gym, and not only in summer. The island is one of the great world destinations for cycling: every spring and autumn, amateurs and professionals arrive to ride its roads, from the plain of the southeast to the mountain passes of the Tramuntana. Living here is having that on your doorstep.

And there is much more: hiking in the mountains, kayaking and paddle surfing in clear coves, diving, sailing and routes among fields, villages and lighthouses. The mild climate lets you do sport almost all year, a luxury that on the mainland is reduced to a few months. We tell it all in our guide to nature and the outdoors in Mallorca.

Social life turns around the village calendar. Each place has its patron festivals, its open-air dances and its traditions, and taking part in them is the fastest way to stop feeling like an outsider: the festes fill the squares with music and neighbours, and winter has its celebrations around the fire. We tell it all in our guide to the festivals and traditions of Mallorca.

It is a welcoming community to anyone who approaches with respect and a wish to belong. Learning a little Mallorcan, becoming a regular at the market, joining in the village festivals: gestures that completely change your relationship with the place. It is a close, human way of relating, and that closeness is one of the great attractions of living on the island.

Visiting Mallorca is one thing; living it is another. When the island is your home, the “what to do” stops being a list of postcards and becomes your weekend routine. In the southeast, that is:

• A walk out to the Cap de Ses Salines, the southernmost point of Mallorca, with its lighthouse, its sunsets and, on clear nights, one of the starriest skies on the island, this being one of the areas with the least light pollution in Mallorca.
• A boat trip to the Cabrera Archipelago National Park — the only national park in the Balearics — leaving from the Colònia de Sant Jordi.
• The markets of the area: Santanyí on Wednesdays and Saturdays, Ses Salines on Thursdays and Campos on Thursdays and Saturdays; fixtures for filling the basket and seeing half the town.
• Watching the flamingos at dusk on the salt pans of the Salobrar de Campos, or climbing up to the Sant Salvador monastery, in Felanitx, for the views.

And all of that without catching a plane: a quarter of an hour from home. And for the rest of the island — Palma, the caves, the Sóller train, Formentor — here is our guide to what to see in Mallorca.

We would not be honest if we told you only the beautiful side. This is what it is worth knowing before you take the step, said plainly:

• August is August. The hottest and busiest month of the year: the roads load up, the beaches fill and parking near the sea is a sport. Those who live here learn to organise the summer and to enjoy the island the rest of the year.
• The seasonality is real. Away from the most touristy coast, the pace drops in winter: some of the seasonal bars and shops reduce their activity and life turns quieter. Some love that calm; for others it feels long.
• Outside Palma, the car rules. Public transport exists, but it is limited. To live in the countryside or in a small village with freedom, it is all but essential.
• The wind and the weather have character. There are days of tramuntana wind and of storms, above all in winter, and the odd heavy downpour in autumn. It is the real Mediterranean, not an always-sunny stage set.

None of this should put you off; only help you choose with your eyes open. Those who come knowing what the island is really like almost never want to leave.

What is it like to live in Mallorca all year round?

Very different from the summer image. For eight months of the year it is calm, unhurried and on a village scale, with mild winters and plenty of outdoor life; only the two months of high summer are busy. Anyone after calm, nature and good food usually finds here what they were looking for.

Which is the best area to live in Mallorca?

It depends on what you are after: Palma for city life, the southwest for an international scene, the Tramuntana for mountains, the north for a middle ground and the southeast for authenticity, countryside and unspoilt beaches. In any case, it is worth visiting out of season before deciding.

What is the climate like in Mallorca month by month?

Mediterranean and mild, but with four marked seasons: mild winters with some rain and the almond blossom between late January and February, ideal springs and autumns, and hot summers (July and August the most intense).

Can you live in Mallorca in winter?

Yes, and for many it is the best season: the island turns calm and intimate, with luminous days for walking and beaches all but empty. That said, some of the seasonal businesses reduce their activity.

Why choose the southeast of Mallorca to live?

Because it brings together things that are hard to find together: unspoilt beaches like Es Trenc, towns with a life of their own all twelve months and an authenticity that is already scarce elsewhere.

Do I need a car to live in Mallorca?

Outside Palma, in practice yes: public transport is limited, and to move freely in a village or in the countryside a car is all but essential. In Palma it is easier to do without one.

Since 2010 we have been helping people like you find their place in the southeast of Mallorca, and we do it as we would like it done for us: by telling you the truth, the August one and the November one. We help you build a real life in an extraordinary place, with honest information and first-hand knowledge.

If the idea of taking the step is on your mind, or you simply want to understand better what living here is like, let’s talk it through with no obligation: we know every village, every cove and every house. And if you would rather rent before you buy, we help with that too: take a look at our country houses to rent in Mallorca.