Mallorca harbour

Photo: Dirk Vorderstraße (flickr)

Mallorca's harbour "Port de Palma" on the west side of the Bay of Palma (Bahia de Palma) has existed for around 1000 years. In recent decades, it has become the best-known harbour in the Mediterranean, offering moorings for ferries, cruise ships, excursion boats and yachts as well as private vessels. Until the beginning of the 19th century, Mallorca's harbour existed largely in its original form, but since then the harbour has been continuously expanded through construction work in order to cope with the increasing number of ships, which are getting longer and larger every year. In the summer of 1961, the extended western dyke, the new ferry terminal and the berths for cruise ships were opened in Palma de Mallorca.

Palma de Mallorca: harbour structure

The harbour of Mallorca consists of several clearly separated areas and is approx. 3 km long in total. In the south, the western dyke protects Mallorca's harbour from wind and waves, and is also home to the military harbour, the tank facilities and the Far de Porto Pi lighthouse, which has existed since 1290. If you walk clockwise from the western dyke once "through the harbour" of Mallorca, the next stop is the ferry terminal, where the two largest ferry companies Baleària and Transmediterranea are based. This is followed by the moorings for cruise ships - up to 8 huge cruise ships, each with up to 5,000 passengers, can moor in Mallorca's harbour at the same time. The Paseo Maritimo is home to boat and yacht clubs as well as leisure harbours that rent out moorings for all kinds of boats in Mallorca's harbour. The northern breakwater is home to the boats that sail out every day (fishing boats, excursion boats). The south-eastern dyke in the harbour of Mallorca is home to associated services (administration, customs, boat repair, insurance, buying and selling, charter, transshipment point, etc.) as well as other large ships.

Famous ships in the harbour of Mallorca

One of the largest yachts regularly moored in Mallorca's harbour is the approximately 200 million dollar luxury yacht "Lady Moura", which belongs to the Saudi Arabian entrepreneur Nasser Ar-Raschid. The largest sailing ship in the world (see photo), the white and blue "Royal Clipper" with 5 masts, has also docked in Mallorca's harbour several times. Even the largest cruise ship in the world has already docked in Mallorca's harbour: The "Allure of the Seas" with a length of 364 metres and space for 5,400 passengers, which cost around 900 million dollars to build. The noble "Creole", a 65 metre long racing sailing yacht built in 1927 with a top speed of up to 14 knots, belongs to the Gucci family and has also visited Mallorca's harbour in the past.

Interesting facts about Mallorca's harbour

Mallorca's harbour offers boat owners everything their hearts desire: in addition to 24-hour surveillance, there is an excellent infrastructure for people and boats, which is complemented by special services (e.g. sailing school, post office, community centre, laundry and a pick-up and drop-off service to/from the boat with a small Zodiac boat). Mallorca's harbour is the hub of the nautical scene, as the two most important regattas in the Mediterranean take place in the bay of Palma every year. A tour of the harbour is particularly enjoyable, as you can admire boats of all types and sizes. One thing to keep in mind when touring Mallorca's harbour, however: Each ship costs around 10% of its purchase price per year to operate and maintain.