Felanitx and Portocolom

One municipality, two ways of living

The municipality of Felanitx, in the East zone, runs from the Serres de Llevant hills down to the coast. Most of its residents live in two places. Felanitx town has the town hall, the main health centre, the secondary school and the Sunday market. Portocolom, about 12 km away, is the harbour village that locals simply call es Port. Smaller villages such as S’Horta and Cas Concos lie between them.

The two places have long depended on each other. In the 19th century Felanitx had the largest vineyard area in Mallorca, and its wine was shipped from Portocolom, mostly to Sète in France, until phylloxera ended the trade in the early 1890s. Today buyers often choose between them by asking a simple question: town or sea?

Felanitx: a market town that works all year

Felanitx is an everyday Mallorcan town, busy in January as well as in July. The parish church of Sant Miquel, reached by a broad flight of steps, sits at the heart of the old centre. The covered municipal market opens every morning from Tuesday to Sunday, and on Sundays a large street market fills the centre. Many shops close on Mondays.

• A public health centre with urgent care on weeknights and at weekends; the area’s public hospital is in Manacor, 15 to 20 minutes away.
• State primary schools, a cooperative school up to ESO and IES Felanitx, the state secondary school.
• TIB bus 501 to Palma about every half hour on weekdays.
• Festivals through the year, from Sant Joan Pelós on 24 June to Sant Agustí in late August and October’s paprika fair.

Outside the town, the sanctuary of Sant Salvador stands on a 509 m hill with views across the island, and the ruins of Santueri castle crown a clifftop to the south-east.

Portocolom: a harbour that still works

Portocolom wraps around a large, sheltered bay. Fishing boats and traditional wooden llaüts still tie up near the yachts, and the port has a fish market and a fishermen’s guild. Moorings are run by Ports IB, the Balearic ports authority, and by the Club Nàutic de Portocolom. Rows of old boathouses with painted doors line the water at Es Riuetó and Sa Capella.

For swimming there are the two sandy coves of s’Arenal, near the lighthouse, and Cala Marçal, the largest beach, which is crowded in high summer. Daily needs are covered by supermarkets, a pharmacy, a public GP unit open on weekday mornings and early afternoons, a state primary school and a market on Tuesday and Saturday mornings. Bigger errands, urgent care out of hours and secondary school mean a trip to Felanitx.

What you can buy

In Felanitx town, the old centre around Sant Miquel and the Plaça d’Espanya has narrow streets of older town houses, some of which need work. Further out, the streets open up and give way to farmland, where country houses (fincas) sit among fields and vineyards.

In Portocolom, the oldest part is Sa Capella, laid out from the 1870s, with small fishermen’s houses, boathouses with slipways and houses with first-floor loggias. Since the 1960s newer districts have spread around the bay: Cas Corso, mostly residential, Cala Marçal, with hotels and apartments, and areas such as Sa Punta and Sa Bateria.

• With so much older stock, check whether a house is heritage-protected and whether every extension has a licence.
• On a country house, check the land category and every building. Our guide to buying a finca explains why.
• If you plan to renovate, see surveys and checks before you commit.

Getting around

By car, Felanitx is about 50 to 55 minutes from central Palma and 40 to 45 from the airport, and Portocolom adds about a quarter of an hour. Line 512 links Portocolom with Felanitx about once an hour all year, and line 501 continues to Palma. There is no direct airport bus from either place, so travellers change at Campos for the A51. Outside the two centres, a car is close to essential.

Who it suits

Felanitx suits families who want schools from nursery to sixth form in one town, people who work locally or in Manacor, and anyone who prefers a working town with the coast a short drive away. Portocolom suits boat owners, couples looking for a quieter seaside home and families happy with a village primary school. Both are a long way from Palma’s international schools and nightlife, and both reward people who like a slower winter.

Areas in this post

Felanitx town · Portocolom