From muddy port to 'princess's salon': a walk through the history of the Born and the Riba dock
16/12/2025
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The natural course of the Riera stream flowed through the heart of Palma, along what is now the Rambla, Carrer de la Riera, Carrer de la Unió, and El Born. It was the natural route for some of the Tramuntana winds to reach the sea.
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The opening of the Gran Hotel in 1903 marked a significant step forward in Palma's tourist accommodation options. It is one of the jewels of Modernism in Mallorca, designed by the Catalan architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner.
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The Princess fountain was installed in homage to the Infanta Maria Isabel Luisa de Borbón y Borbón, future Queen Isabel II, now known as the Turtle or Lioness fountain.
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More than 30 subscribers have strolled along the urban artery that has been for centuries the genuine entry and exit route for those arriving by boat to the island.
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After the renovation of the Born promenade, conceived and designed by Tomàs Abrines in 1833 as part of the 'Princess's Salon' project, it became an urban, glamorous and central salon where only high-class people strolled.
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The monument to Isabella II that gave its name to the Plaza de la Reina fell on October 16, 1868, as a consequence of the proclamation of the First Republic.
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At the start of the Riba dock, on the left, we find the two buildings that make up the headquarters of the Balearic Islands Port Authority. The first and older one dates from 1933 and has a more institutional function; next to it is a more modern and functional building, used for offices.
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The Gabella de la Sal or Almodí portal is the vestige of the old medieval wall and the most genuine of the accesses to Palma from the sea.
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We stopped at the Hort del Rei gardens and took a look at the city's old royal port, at the foot of the Almudaina Palace. An old port infrastructure dating back to the medieval Muslim era.
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It was because of the flood of October 1403, in which some 5,000 people died, that the decision was made to divert the natural course of the Riera.
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In front of these buildings we find the monument to Captain Toni and a section of railway track that connected Plaza de Espanya with the port, first above ground and then buried, between 1877 and 1965.