Living in Palma’s old town: what nobody tells you

Four very different quarters

The old town is not one place. La Lonja and the Born has the shopping streets, the restaurants and much of the nightlife. Cathedral and Calatrava runs from the busiest sights in the city to some of its quietest lanes. Puig de Sant Pere is the old fishermen’s quarter by Es Baluard. Old Town North, around Carrer de Sant Miquel and the Olivar market, feels the most everyday. Walk each one at night and on a Sunday morning before you decide.

Cars: restricted streets and a low-emission zone

Much of the old town is an ACIRE, an area of restricted traffic. Cameras read number plates at the entrances, and only authorised vehicles, mainly residents’, deliveries and services, may drive in. Residents of the streets concerned can apply to the council for authorisation, but it lets you drive to your door, not park there.

Since January 2025 the centre inside the avenues has also been a low-emission zone. Vehicles without a Spanish environmental label may not enter unless they are exempt, as residents of the zone are, and foreign-registered cars, which have no label, need an authorisation from the council.

• A parking space is rare and valuable. Ask whether one comes with the flat or can be rented nearby.
• Public car parks around the edge of the old town are the fallback for visitors and second cars.
• Check how a removal van or a builder’s lorry will reach the door. Some lanes are narrow or stepped.

Stairs, lifts and heritage rules

Palma’s old town has been a protected historic ensemble since 1964, and many buildings also carry their own listing. Any work, from windows and shutters to roof terraces, needs approval and must respect the building’s protection level. Some renovations take far longer than buyers expect.

Plenty of old buildings have no lift. A third-floor flat with a roof terrace sounds ideal until you carry shopping and suitcases up every week. Adding a lift to an old building usually needs the agreement of the owners’ community, room in the stairwell or courtyard, and heritage approval, so do not count on one being fitted later.

Noise, crowds and closed shutters

The lanes around Sa Llotja are one of Palma’s best-known places to go out, and residents there have complained about late-night noise for years. A flat a few streets away can be far quieter, and the side of the building matters: a bedroom on a courtyard sleeps better than one over a terrace.

By day the streets near the cathedral and the Born fill with visitors, especially from spring to autumn and on days when several cruise ships are in port. The Born is also where the city gathers for fiestas, celebrations and demonstrations.

At the other extreme, many old-town flats are second homes, so some buildings and lanes are very quiet for much of the year. Palma has banned holiday lets in blocks of flats since 2018, upheld by the Supreme Court in 2023, so a building should not have a weekly turnover of guests, although illegal lets do still turn up.

Daily life on foot

Everyday shopping is the surprise for many newcomers. In the lanes by the cathedral and Sa Llotja, many ordinary shops have given way to bars and businesses aimed at visitors. The covered markets fill the gap: the Mercat de l’Olivar, open since 1951, is at the northern end of the old town, and the Santa Catalina market is a short walk west across Sa Riera.

The rest is easy. Palma is a working capital, so the old town does not shut down in winter. Health centres, the train and bus station at Plaça d’Espanya, the airport bus and the seafront path to the beach at Can Pere Antoni are all within walking distance. For many buyers that is the point: a life lived on foot, all year.

Areas in this post

La Lonja & Born · Cathedral & Calatrava · Puig de Sant Pere · Old Town North (Sant Miquel & Olivar)