Porto Cristo and Manacor: the East’s working towns

Two towns, one municipality

The municipality of Manacor runs from the farmland of the Pla to the east coast. Most of its residents live in two places: Manacor itself, with around 33,800 people, and Porto Cristo, with about 9,500. They are 12 km apart on the Ma-4020, about 15 minutes by car, and many families have ties to both.

Neither is a resort first. Manacor is the shopping and service centre for the whole East, and Porto Cristo began as a summer retreat for better-off Manacor families and grew into a town that keeps going through the winter.

Manacor: a real town

Manacor stands where the flat Pla meets the low hills of the Serres de Llevant. King Jaume II granted its charter in 1300, and it became a city in 1912. For much of the 20th century it was known for furniture workshops, and artificial pearls have been made here since 1902. It is also the town where Rafael Nadal grew up.

The old centre gathers round the tall neo-Gothic parish church of Nostra Senyora dels Dolors, the Torre del Palau, all that is left of a royal palace, and the former Dominican convent, whose buildings now house the town hall. On Monday mornings the weekly market spreads from Plaça Ramon Llull towards the church, and a fruit and vegetable market runs from Monday to Saturday in Plaça de la Constitució.

• Hospital: the Hospital de Manacor, on the Alcúdia road, is the public hospital for the east of the island.
• Health centre: the Sa Torre centre has urgent care on weeknights and all weekend.
• Schools: several primary schools, state secondary schools and the Rafa Nadal International School, for ages 10 to 18, which combines lessons with tennis.
• Transport: the Ma-15 dual carriageway to Palma, about 50 minutes by car; trains to Palma in about an hour; bus 401 all year.

Porto Cristo: harbour, beach and caves

Porto Cristo sits on a small bay sheltered by a headland with a lighthouse. The sandy town beach lies beside the harbour, facing the Passeig de la Sirena. The harbour has a fishing quay, public moorings run by the Balearic ports authority, Ports IB, and the Club Náutico Porto Cristo, whose marina sits where two torrents reach the sea, at es Riuet. In October 2025 Ports IB began rebuilding the start of the quay by es Riuet and the promenade beside it. Small coves such as Cala Petita are a walk away.

Caves are the town’s best-known sight. The Coves del Drac, on the southern edge of town, have an underground lake and a live concert on the water, and the Coves dels Hams are close by. In summer, beachgoers and day visitors to the caves fill the centre and parking is scarce, especially on market days. Manacor council and Ports IB have agreed to set up a residents’ priority zone to cut traffic around the harbour.

Out of season it feels like an ordinary coastal town. There are supermarkets, bakeries and a post office, a health centre with urgent care at nights and weekends, two state primary schools and a secondary school. The Sunday market on the Passeig de la Sirena runs all year.

Homes and what to check

In Manacor, the centre has townhouses and flats close to the shops, with grander 19th-century houses on streets such as Carrer Nou and Carrer Major, and newer districts spreading out from the 1950s. Country houses lie among the fields and need a car. Most of Porto Cristo was built during the tourism booms from the 1960s, so there are few historic lanes; homes by the harbour are handiest for the beach but busiest in summer, and the streets behind feel quieter.

• Flooding: in October 2024 the Porto Cristo torrent overflowed, flooding the area around es Riuet and sweeping away parked cars. Manacor’s general plan, in force since 2022, is online with a flood-risk study and a heritage catalogue.
• Water: in February 2026 parts of Porto Cristo were without mains water for days, and the supplier said many houses had no tank of their own. Ask whether a home has one.
• Holiday lets: new licences are scarce across Mallorca, so if rental income matters, buy a home that already has one and have a lawyer check it.

Who it suits

This part of the island works best for people who will live here for much of the year: families who want schools and a hospital nearby, families with young tennis players, boat owners, and retired couples who like having shops and a health centre within walking distance. The trade-off is distance from Palma, about an hour from Porto Cristo, and summer crowds on the coast. Our guide to surveys and checks covers what to ask about an older house.

Areas in this post

Manacor city · Porto Cristo · East · Manacor