Website: marcabrera.com; excursionsacabrera.es
Can Lis
Fleeing from the disastrous gestation of his Sydney Opera House, in 1966 Danish architect Jorn Utzon bought land on a cliff-top in Porto Petro on Mallorca’s east coast. Here, in 1971, he built a house, described by Richard Weston in his book on Utzon as ‘one of the finest built in the 20thcentury’, using the local pinkish sandstone in a clean-lined modernist manner. This simple Mediterranean masterpiece, preserved just as the master left it, can be visited every Friday from May 23th through October 17th 2025. Opening hours 11am-2pm; visitors are admitted on a first-come-first-served basis. Professional architects can also rent the whole house at $2500 per week.
Address: Avinguda Jorn Utzon, 80B, 07691 Santanyí, Balearic Islands, Spain
Website: canlis.dk
Can Cavall Blau
A country estate near Sencelles at the island’s agricultural heart, on weekend afternoons Cavall Blau opens its doors to (in the words of owner Katja Lebelt) “people like you – islanders, expats, and visitors in the know”. Lebelt, who practises regenerative agriculture on her 4ha farm, holds informal visitor events on Saturdays and Sundays, with tastings of farm products like Cavall Blau’s signature orange-based aperitif Amargeró and low-intervention wines, and encounters with the estate’s pure-breed polo ponies. It all makes for a convivial experience of rural Mallorca. (Reserve via the Instagram account @cancavallblau; the visit is free but you pay for drinks.)
Address: Can Cavall Blau, 07140 Sencelles, Balearic Islands, Spain
Website: www.cancavallblau.com
Viti Vinci
Squirrelled away in an alley behind Palma Cathedral is this artisan perfumery, an oasis of historic charm and excellence among the souvenir shops and tourist filling stations. Founded in 2019 by biochemist Victor Alarcón, Viti Vinci creates bespoke fragrances and also offers experiences in the world of natural perfumery under the guidance of a professional ‘scent scientist’. Create your own fragrance according to your particular aroma preferences, learning how to combine top, ‘hard’, and base notes; or explore the olfactory world of Mallorca’s native aromatic plants, distilling their essences in Viti Vinci’s own copper still. (Experiences last around three hours; price on application.).
Website: essentiallymallorca.com
Can QuetglasJose A Gámez
El Terreno
This barrio behind the harbour at the western end of Palma Bay was hastily built in the 1960s and soon fell into urban decay, with tacky tourist bars and down-at-heel accommodation. Enter the family behind Mallorcan shoe brand Camper, who have vowed to regenerate the area around Plaza Gomila where, in a parallel development, the Ibiza-based cabaret club Lío has opened in a former discoteca (the legendary Tito’s). Check out the results of Camper’s labours so far: the four brightly painted buildings around Gomila square itself, a new wave Italian restaurant (Brutus) with a brutalist interior and a brand new bakery (Can Pa) designed by Jasper Morrison. Finally, admire the fanciful modernista facade of the new hotel Can Quetglas, originally built by a student of Antoni Gaudí in 1908.
