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Petra

Central: PlaMunicipalityCovered as one place

ARIANYLLUBÍMARIA DE LA SALUTSINEU

Estate agents in Petra

104 agencies, listed in three groups: offices in Petra first, then offices nearby, then others. How we list agents

Central: Pla · Municipality

Showing all 104 agenciesOrder: offices in Petra first

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Offices in Petra

Agencies with a shopfront in Petra.

2 agencies
2

Offices nearby that cover Petra

Based elsewhere in the Pla, working in Petra.

8 agencies
3

Other agents covering Petra

Island-wide agencies and agencies based elsewhere.

94 agencies

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Living here

Petra, birthplace of the missionary Junípero Serra, is a small country town in the Pla, Mallorca’s inland farming plain, about 50 minutes east of Palma. Its protected old centre is a grid of stone streets laid out around 1300. Quiet, lived in all year and with its own train station, it appeals to buyers who want open countryside on the doorstep.

Petra is built on a low rise in the middle of a wide plain of cereal fields, vineyards and almond trees, a little north-east of the island’s centre. Its core was planned under King Jaume II’s ordinances of 1300 as a grid of seven streets crossed by seven more, and the pattern is still clear today. Two big churches stand above the roofs: the parish church of Sant Pere, begun in 1582, and the Franciscan convent of Sant Bernardí, where Serra began his studies. He later led the founding of California’s first nine Spanish missions, and his family home and a museum about him, in the Barracar quarter, draw visitors.

About 3,200 people live in the municipality, most of them in the town, and it does not empty out in winter. Everyday shopping is in small shops and supermarkets, and there is a pharmacy. On Wednesday mornings a modest market for residents sets up in the centre, around Carrer de l’Hospital and the main squares. There is a state primary school, CEIP Fra Juníper Serra, a library in the town hall and a theatre in the former Guardia Civil barracks. The public clinic opens on weekdays and is part of the health centre in Vilafranca de Bonany, about 10 minutes away. The hospital for the area is in Manacor.

Sant Antoni in mid-January brings bonfires and the blessing of animals. The patron saint’s festival of Santa Praxedis, around 21 July, draws big crowds, and its best-known event is Ses Clovelles, when almond shells, water and music fill the centre. On the Tuesday after Easter people walk up to the Bonany sanctuary for a picnic, and on the third Sunday of September Serra is honoured with a parade of floats, close to the date of the town fair. Summers are hot and dry, and October is usually the wettest month.

About 3 km from town the Puig de Bonany rises to 317 m, with a sanctuary, a small pilgrims' hostel, an outdoor picnic area and views over the plain to the Tramuntana mountains and the Bay of Alcúdia. Petra has its own station on the Palma–Manacor train line, on the northern edge of town, about an hour from Palma. The old railway line through town is now a footpath. Manacor, with a wider choice of shops and the hospital, is about 15 minutes away, Sineu about 15, and the beaches of the Bay of Alcúdia around Can Picafort about 25.

Who buys here

Petra is still largely a town of long-established local families. Numbers have picked up again in recent decades, bringing newcomers, foreign residents among them. It is a good match for couples restoring an old townhouse in the centre, families who want a village school and the train, and people looking for a country house among the fields, with Manacor and the beaches of the Bay of Alcúdia within half an hour.

Property

Most of the old town is terraced houses built on the street line, usually ground floor plus one storey, with stone walls, sandstone (marès) corners and door frames, a round-arched front door, timber beams, a pitched tiled roof and often a yard or garden behind. Larger manor houses, some up to four storeys, often stand on corners, and a few old flour windmills have been turned into homes. Some old houses have given way to blocks of flats, and the streets towards the edges of town are newer and more open. Farmhouses and old estates lie among the fields; they need a car, and their planning status should be checked.

Getting around

Approximate times by car, outside rush hour.

  • 50min

    Central PalmaVia Vilafranca, then the Ma-15

  • 45min

    Palma airportMa-15, then the Ma-19 on the edge of Palma

  • 15min

    Hospital de ManacorPublic hospital for the area

  • 15min

    SineuCountry road west across the plain

  • 25min

    Can PicafortNearest beaches, on the Bay of Alcúdia

Pros and cons

For

  • Shops, a primary school and a Wednesday market
  • Protected medieval grid of stone houses and two large churches
  • Own train station, about an hour from Palma
  • Fields, vineyards and quiet country lanes right outside town

Against

  • Narrow streets in the old centre and little parking
  • Small clinic with set hours; the hospital is in Manacor
  • Can Picafort, the nearest beach, is about 25 minutes away
  • Old-centre works need extra heritage approval for now

Questions buyers ask

Is there a train to Palma?

Yes. Petra is on the Palma–Manacor train line, about an hour from Palma’s Estació Intermodal, with around 20 trains a day each way on weekdays and one an hour at weekends. The station, which has a car park, is on the northern edge of town.

Why is Petra known in California?

It is the birthplace of Junípero Serra (1713–1784), the Franciscan friar who led the founding of the first nine of California’s 21 Spanish missions, from San Diego to San Francisco. He was made a saint in 2015, and his family home and a museum about his life are in the town’s Barracar quarter.

What should I know before buying in the old centre?

The old core is a protected historic ensemble (Bé d’Interès Cultural), declared by the Consell de Mallorca in 2012 after a smaller listing in 1965 around Serra’s house, the convent and the parish church. The town hall published a draft special protection plan in late 2024, and until a plan is approved, works in the area also need sign-off from the Consell’s heritage commission. Talk to the town hall’s planning office before you commit to a renovation.

How far is the nearest hospital?

The public Hospital de Manacor is about 15 minutes by car. In town there is a small public clinic that opens on weekdays, mostly in the mornings. It belongs to the health centre in Vilafranca de Bonany, about 10 minutes away, which has longer hours.

Elsewhere in the Pla, and nearby

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