Alcúdia old town or Port d’Alcúdia?

One municipality, two centres

The municipality of Alcúdia sits on the neck of land between the bays of Pollença and Alcúdia in the north of Mallorca. Its two main centres are 5 to 10 minutes apart by car. The old town stands on the rise between the two bays, inside medieval walls. Port d’Alcúdia lies on the shore of the Bay of Alcúdia, where the long beach begins. Nearly 8,000 people live in the old town and just over 5,000 are registered in the port, out of about 22,000 in the whole municipality.

Both are 50 to 55 minutes from central Palma by car, mostly on the Ma-13 motorway, and about an hour from the airport. TIB bus 302 runs to Palma all year from both, and the nearest train station is in sa Pobla.

The old town: history and everyday life

King Jaume II founded the present town in 1298, and its walls were finished in 1362. You can walk along much of their top, and the narrow lanes inside are mostly pedestrian. Just south of the walls lie the ruins of Roman Pollentia, including a small theatre cut into the rock. The walled centre is a listed historic ensemble, with grand houses from the 16th and 17th centuries among the townhouses.

This is where the municipality’s services are. The town hall is on Carrer Major, the Es Safrà health centre is a short walk from the walls, and the Can Torró library and the Auditori keep a cultural programme through autumn and winter. The market fills the old streets on Tuesday and Sunday mornings, all year. That is the old town’s great strength: it keeps going when the resort goes quiet.

The port: beach, boats and ferries

The port is built around the Passeig Marítim, the seafront promenade where Platja d’Alcúdia begins. The beach is fine sand that shelves very gently and runs south for several kilometres. The harbour has a fishing quay, a marina with more than 700 berths, and a commercial dock with ferries to Menorca. Boat trips leave from here, and the Alcanada golf course and the s’Albufera wetlands are a short drive away.

Everyday services are thinner than in the old town but run all year. There is a public GP unit open on weekdays, a town hall office where you can register on the padró (the residents’ register), and a market on Friday mornings in Plaça de Cas Vicari. In summer an evening market sets up on the promenade, and on 29 June decorated boats sail out for Sant Pere, the port’s patron saint.

How the seasons change things

Tourism has been the main source of work in Alcúdia since the mid-20th century, and most hotels are in the port and Platja d’Alcúdia. That shapes the year. In summer the port is crowded and parking near home is hard; since 15 June 2026, green bays across the municipality, including 200 in the port’s main car park, have been reserved for registered residents with a free permit. In winter many restaurants around the marina close and the port becomes much quieter, though people live there all year and its GP unit and town hall office keep their weekday hours.

The old town changes less. Its market, schools and health centre carry on through the winter, and the town fair comes on the first weekend of October.

Homes in each

Inside the walls, homes are townhouses and old manor houses on narrow lanes. Because the centre is listed, building heights and works face extra rules, so ask the town hall’s planning department what is allowed before you buy. Later residential streets spread outside the walls.

The port is densely built and mostly flats, many in blocks from the tourism boom of the 1960s to the 1980s, so the age and condition of the building are worth checking. A flat on the promenade or above restaurants can be noisy in summer. For a house with a garden, buyers tend to look beyond both, at Alcanada, Es Barcarès or Bonaire and Mal Pas. If you hope to let a flat to holidaymakers, check the licence rules first: flats can no longer get new holiday-let registrations, except as the owner’s own main home for up to 60 days a year.

Side by side

Choose the old town if you want to walk to the market, the health centre and the school all year. Choose the port if the beach, the boats and the ferries matter most, and you are happy with a quieter winter.

Areas in this post

Alcúdia old town · Port d’Alcúdia