For a unusual memento of Majorca, visit Artesanía Textil Bujosa, a family-run textile workshop off the beaten tourist track, where you can find a fine array of distinctive Majorcan roba de llengües (fabric of flames) – the hard-wearing linen cloth in colourful red, green or blue stripes, used all over the island for curtains,
bedspreads, table furnishings, upholstery and giftware. The Bujosa family have preserved the traditional fabric-dying techniques, and you can visit the workshops to see the fabric being woven on ancient looms.
Few tourists enter the magical world of Majorca’s bar Abaco. From the outside, this cocktail bar looks unimpressive – just an old, heavy wooden door in a narrow backstreet in the Majorcan capital. However, the drab exterior belies the most sumptuous bar
in town, housed within a lavish 17th century mansion. The courtyard is the most romantic venue for an al fresco cocktail – surrounded by lavish displays of fruits and foliage and the heady fragrance of exotic flowers.
Time appears to have stood still in Majorca’s Jardins d’Alfabia, at the heart of the Serra de Tramuntana mountains. These cool, fragrant gardens date from the 13th century, when the island was under Moorish rule. The name Alfabia derives from al fabi, meaning ‘jar of olives’ in Arabic. The gardens are the perfect
retreat from the midday sun, with their shaded walkways, profusion of flowers and ancient hidden statues. Take some postcards, a good book and bag of almonds, and snooze in the heat to the soothing sound of gently-splashing pools and fountains.