Inca and the Raiguer: Mallorca’s overlooked middle

The foot of the mountains

Raiguer is an old Catalan word for the foot of a mountain, where the climb begins. On Mallorca it names the band of farmland along the southern edge of the Serra de Tramuntana, between the mountains and the flat central plain. Vineyards, almond, olive and carob groves cover the slope, and a line of old towns follows the road and the railway from Palma towards Inca.

On this site the Central: Raiguer zone covers eleven inland municipalities, from Marratxí on Palma’s edge to Inca, Campanet and Búger. None of them touches the sea. That is the main reason buyers overlook it, and also the main reason it stays lived in all year.

A railway and a motorway

The Raiguer’s great advantage is access. The Ma-13 motorway runs from Palma to Inca and on towards the north, and the train line from Palma’s Plaça d’Espanya stops in Marratxí, Santa Maria, Consell-Alaró, Binissalem, Lloseta and Inca. Trains run several times an hour on weekdays, less often at weekends, and reach Palma in about 10 to 40 minutes depending on the stop. Very few parts of Mallorca outside the city let you commute without a car.

Inca: the market town

Inca, with about 36,000 people, is the capital of the Raiguer and one of Mallorca’s largest towns. Its Thursday market is recorded from 1375 and still fills the centre every week, and the autumn fairs end with Dijous Bo, a big fair held in mid-November. Inca was long a shoemaking town, the city of leather, and a museum in the old barracks tells the story.

For daily life it has almost everything: a covered market open every morning, state secondary schools, two public health centres with urgent care at nights and weekends, and the Hospital Comarcal d’Inca on the edge of town. All three train lines from Palma stop here, and the bus station next door has services to Lluc, Port de Pollença and the Bay of Alcúdia. The beaches of the bay are about 25 minutes by car.

The wine towns and the mountain towns

Santa Maria del Camí was the first stop on the old road north from Palma. Its Sunday market is one of the most important in the Balearics, especially for fresh food, and the town has a health centre with 24-hour urgent care, primary and secondary schools and a station. Behind it, the Coanegra valley runs up towards the mountains.

Binissalem is often called the island’s wine capital. Vineyards are recorded here from 1339, the Binissalem designation of origin was recognised in 1990, and the Festa des Vermar, the harvest festival, fills September. The stone old centre has been a protected historic ensemble since 1983, with large family houses from the 18th and 19th centuries. Consell, between the two, shares the wine country and the station.

Alaró sits right under two near-identical peaks, one crowned by the ruins of a medieval castle, and has a Saturday market in its main square. Lloseta, one of the smallest municipalities on the island, was a lignite-mining and shoemaking town and keeps a down-to-earth character, with a station and a Saturday market. Both are 30 to 35 minutes from Palma and close to walking country.

Property and what to check

The old town centres are made up of stone townhouses on narrow streets, some large and grand, close to the shops and stations. Newer streets on the edges have detached and semi-detached houses, Inca and Marratxí also have flats, and the countryside holds fincas and old estates among the vineyards and groves.

• In protected centres such as Binissalem’s, and in buildings on a town’s heritage catalogue, renovation follows strict rules. Ask the town hall before you plan work.
• On rustic land, have a lawyer check that every building is licensed and registered. See buying a finca.
• Near Marratxí’s torrents, check the flood maps.
• Narrow streets in old centres mean tight parking and access.

Who it suits

The Raiguer suits buyers who want a real town with year-round life, a market and a station, and who are happy to drive to the beach, 10 to 35 minutes away depending on the town. Families like the schools and the commute to Palma. Walkers and cyclists like the foothills. It suits people who would rather live among Mallorcans than in a holiday resort, and who see the absence of a sea view as a fair trade for space, quiet and a working community.

Areas in this post

Inca · Binissalem town · Santa Maria del Camí · Alaró · Central: Raiguer