Wild Mallorca: Wetlands, Islands and the Tramuntana

Mallorca’s wild side, from the wetland of s’Albufera and the protected islands of Sa Dragonera and Cabrera to the coves of Mondragó and the Serra de Tramuntana, with a directory of the parks in our guide. Facts from the Govern de les Illes Balears, Spain’s national parks and UNESCO.

Mallorca is better known for its beaches and its stone villages, but it keeps a wild side within easy reach. In the north, the reed beds and canals of s’Albufera shelter waterbirds all year; off the west coast, the island of Sa Dragonera is a protected area for birds; and off the south coast, the archipelago of Cabrera is a national park of sea and land.

This is a short guide to where to find it. Go early in the day, by boat where the reserves are islands, and keep to the paths.

S’Albufera and the coves of Mondragó

The Parc Natural de s’Albufera de Mallorca was declared on 28 January 1988; its canals, reed beds and bridges make, in the Govern’s words, a landscape unexpected on an island of rock and sea, and a place for birds and birdwatchers. On the south-east coast near Santanyí, Mondragó Natural Park protects coves, dunes and farmland; its information service is open from 9am to 4pm every day of the year.

Islands and mountains

Sa Dragonera, off the west tip of Mallorca, is a natural park and a protected area for birds, reached by a boat from the quay at Sant Elm, usually between March and October. Off the south coast, the Cabrera Archipelago Maritime-Terrestrial National Park is reached by excursion boats from Colònia de Sant Jordi, where its visitor centre stands.

Along the north-west coast, the Serra de Tramuntana, whose cultural landscape of terraces and dry-stone walls UNESCO inscribed in 2011, is the island’s great walking country. Under the Balearic Decree 25/2018, uncontrolled anchoring on the Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows is generally prohibited; anchor on sand or use the authorised buoy fields.

Mallorca’s largest wetland is a world of canals, reed beds and birds a short drive from the beaches of Alcúdia.

Feature: the Balearic shearwater

The Balearic shearwater is a small, brown-and-white seabird that spends its life over the open sea and comes ashore only to nest, in burrows and caves in the cliffs along the northern coasts of the islands. The Balearics are its only nesting area in the world, and it is listed as Critically Endangered, one of the most threatened seabirds anywhere.

Look for it from boats and headlands, skimming low over the waves; at night near its colonies, keep lights low.

Did you know? The Balearic shearwater nests nowhere in the world but the Balearic Islands.

Our advice

Our advice: visit s’Albufera early in the morning with binoculars, book the boats to Sa Dragonera and Cabrera ahead in summer, and walk the Tramuntana outside the midday heat. Keep to marked paths, never feed wildlife, and anchor only on sand, never on the Posidonia.