Campos, Ses Salines and the Es Trenc coast

Two towns, one coast

The south of Mallorca is flat farmland that runs down to a low coast of dunes, salt pans and long white sand. Two municipalities share it. Campos holds the bigger inland town and reaches the sea at Sa Ràpita and Ses Covetes. Ses Salines has a small inland town and, on the coast, Colònia de Sant Jordi, which is home to more than half its residents.

Between the two coastal villages lies Es Trenc, one of the island’s best-known beaches. Behind it are the Salobrar salt pans. Since 2017 this whole stretch has been protected as the Es Trenc-Salobrar de Campos natural park, under a Balearic law of that year. That protection shapes almost everything about living here: what you see from the beach, where you can park and what can be built.

• Campos town: a market town that stays busy all year, 40 to 45 minutes from Palma on the Ma-19.
• Ses Salines town: a small town among almond groves, with the town hall, 50 to 55 minutes from Palma.
• Sa Ràpita and Ses Covetes: quiet residential villages with a marina and no hotels, at the western end of Es Trenc.
• Colònia de Sant Jordi: a harbour village and resort at the eastern end, with boats to Cabrera.

Campos and Ses Salines: life inland

Campos town was founded by Jaume II in 1300 as a farming town, and it still works like one. There are markets on Thursday and Saturday mornings, a health centre with urgent care at night and at weekends, primary and secondary schools, and a calendar of fairs that carries on through the winter. The sea at Sa Ràpita is about 15 minutes away by car, so you live in a real town and drive to the beach.

Ses Salines town is much smaller and quieter. It sits on a low plateau about 4.5 km inland, with a pharmacy, a primary school, a library and a weekday GP unit. Its big date is the 1 May fair. Out of hours, residents go to Campos for urgent care, and the hospital for the whole area is in Manacor. Colònia de Sant Jordi is about 10 minutes south and Es Trenc 10 to 15.

Sa Ràpita and Ses Covetes

Sa Ràpita grew from summer houses that Campos families built on the shore in the early 20th century. It is still mostly homes, with a yacht club marina, a watchtower from 1595 and a sandy beach of about a kilometre backed by dunes and pines. Ses Covetes, a smaller hamlet next door, marks the start of Es Trenc. You can walk along the sand from here all the way to Colònia.

Services are thin. A GP unit opens three mornings a week, and schools and out-of-hours care are in Campos. Bus 508 runs to Palma all year, weekends included, but most residents rely on a car. Winter is when the south-westerly storms arrive, and the village is very quiet.

Colònia de Sant Jordi

Colònia de Sant Jordi began as a small fishing settlement and became a farming colony in the late 19th century before tourism arrived. It is Mallorca’s southernmost harbour. Beaches start at the edge of the village, and in season boats leave daily for the Cabrera national park, whose visitor centre is in the village.

With about 3,000 registered residents it keeps a life of its own after summer. There are food shops, a pharmacy, a library, a primary school and a GP unit, and a weekly market on Wednesday afternoons. Some hotels close in winter, the first reopening around February. Flamingos are often seen on the salt pans at the northern edge of the village.

Summer, winter and what to expect

Es Trenc draws big crowds in peak season, the car parks behind it are paid, and the roads to Sa Ràpita, Ses Covetes and Colònia fill up on hot weekends. The population of both coastal villages rises sharply in summer. From November to March the picture reverses: the beaches are empty, walkers use the coastal path east of Colònia towards the Cap de ses Salines lighthouse, and daily life moves back to Campos and Ses Salines.

For buyers, the choice usually comes down to this. The inland towns offer services, schools and a year-round community, with the beach a short drive away. The coastal villages put the sand on your doorstep, but you trade that for crowded summers, quiet winters and fewer services.

Holiday letting is tightly limited. Since April 2025 no new holiday-let registrations are allowed for flats or other homes in a community of owners in the Balearics, with narrow exceptions, so do not buy an apartment here counting on letting it to tourists. Our guide to holiday rental licences explains the rules.

Areas in this post

Campos town · Ses Salines town · Colònia de Sant Jordi · Sa Ràpita & Ses Covetes