The Magic Of Mallocra

THIS IDYLLIC MEDITERRANEAN ISLE EVOKES IMAGES OF WARM BEACHES, ANCIENT FORTRESSES AND SEXY SPY THRILLERS

- Lark Gould

It’s difficult to discuss Mallorca without calling in the breathtaking vistas and cliff top castle keeps that played front and center in the 2016 BBC adaptation of the John Le Carré thriller, The Night Manager.

The island, the largest of the Belearic archipelago off the southeast coast of Spain, has long been a holiday haven for sunstarved Brits and Germans, who fly in through the charters and soak up the action at mass-tourism beach resorts. However, the series amped up the island’s appeal with some leading man magic courtesy of Tom Hiddleston as Jonathan Pine and Hugh Laurie as Richard Roper, “the worst man in the world.”

For business travelers, Mallorca is an easy 2.5-hour flight from Gatwick and Berlin, but a destination apart when it comes to “bleisure” time well spent.

Just over 1,400 square miles, the island is large and not all of it is worth the exploration. There are expanses of flat lands reserved for agriculture that the rich volcanic soil engenders. Food tours abound here with varieties of olives, oranges, lemons, grapes and culinary traditions that leave visitors reeling in a swirl of tastes and aromas.

Anchoring in Port de Soller

Most visitors will want to hub around the island’s cities, mountains, historic touch points, beaches and medieval town centers where it is as easy to sink back into the 1960s – considered the start of the island’s transformation as a tourism hot spot – as it is to the 1560s.

For some real R&R a top suggestion would to stay and hub at Jumeirah Port Soller Hotel & Spa. The luxury property, part of the Jumeirah Group based in Dubai, offers 121 rooms and suites with stunning views of the Mediterranean and Tramuntana Mountain range that was recently declared a UNESCO Heritage site.