A walking tour of Palma: history and gastronomy for whatever you want to pay

PalmIn Palma's Plaza de España, the guide raises his hand in the same position as Jaime I on his horse. With this gesture, he attracts the attention of the tourists, who have reserved a seat. tour Free tour to explore the city center. The majority are middle-aged couples, pre-IMSESERSO students. They've chosen a mid-range, budget-friendly option—in fact, you only pay at the end of the tour—for those who don't want to read a guidebook, follow Google Maps, or wander between franchises and monuments without knowing where to take a photo.

The group's guide introduces himself with a touch of humor. He warns that he'll make it all up and that his name should be "amen, amen." The ice is broken between people from Madrid, Granada, Bilbao, Logroño, Murcia, and even Brazil. In the ranks of his army of travelers, he has a local soldier, a Mallorcan infiltrated to discover how Palma is explained to outsiders.

The tour will be divided between notes on architecture, gastronomy, and history. "History is what people find most difficult," he confesses, before starting with the beginning of time: the slingers. "Children who only ate if they were able to bring down the food their mothers hung from the trees," he asserts. Warriors trained with the motivation of filling their bellies. In 123 BC, the Romans believed the conquest of Mallorca "would be a walk in the park." But the slingers, now grown men, "met them with stones capable of sinking ships." Defeated, "the Romans returned with their fleet lined with furs to resist their attacks." At this point, it's time for a survey of the tourists: "Did the best marksmen or the best army in the world win?" Opinions are divided, and the guide's response is that it was "a technical tie."

The next dozen centuries are resolved with the enumeration of Vandals, Byzantines, and Muslims to arrive at the lord of the raised hand: the one in the statue.

From there, the group goes down to Sant Miquel Street to explain that James I, "after entering through the Gate of Conquest on December 31, 1229, had to share the spoils." Among others, with the Church, because "the Templars didn't fight for free."

The architectural lesson begins with the advertisement for a Mallorcan manor house. And one of the tourists asks his wife: "What could it be? A shop? A Zara?" From the doorway, well-dressed waiters can be seen. The curious tourist hasn't made too much of a mistake. The architectural example is the Cappuccino café. "On the first floor, the noble one, the lords lived. On the second, the servants; and the characteristic mark of these buildings is the wooden ceiling," explains the guide, before adding that many of these houses have been converted into five-star hotels.

At the height of Sant Miquel with the Olivar market in the background, it's time for the gastronomic notes. On a small table, the guide shows photos (in this order) of sobrasada, tumbito, frito marinero, arroz sucio, and a variety of other dishes. He lists the ingredients of each one. He was right when he said that history is of less interest to tourists than food. He even recommends wineries where you can taste the dishes. "So you don't end up in a place of foreigners", he adds. And they appreciate the detail because no one seems interested in sharing space with tourists, even though everyone is. Spoiler: some of the recommended restaurants already have more foreigners than locals.

Just by turning their bodies, the group is in front of the church of Sant Miquel, which houses the statue of a virgin" of more than . catches a storm and, believing he will die, he infects the Virgin of the Virgin, and promises her that, if everyone arrives safe and sound, he will build the most beautiful monument," he says. "Which is it?" he asks. Meanwhile, behind him, a hippie – of those who surely already were in the 70s – cleavage Nothing's gonna change my love for you.

The Plaza Mayor presents itself with a new riddle. What three characteristics does it have? "One, two, three, answer again," he encourages, referring to the quiz show. "Mallorcan windows," he suggests, referring to the blinds. The other two are, again, the overhang, and the curtains hanging over the balcony. "Under our feet, here, there was a dungeon, a torture chamber, and a prison," he clarifies while some gossip on their phones about recommended wineries. A few steps away, it's time for modernism, with a look at Can Forteza Rey and references to "Gaudinian inspiration," with the brittle tree as an example. Any mysticism surrounding Can Corbella vanishes when he clarifies that "it was a drugstore all its life." In Cort, comparisons are heard between the olive tree in the square and those in towns, cities, and tourist gardens. "The one at my house isn't that big," one of them says. "It's not a thousand years old. It's about seven centuries old," the guide explains.

Snail and Lizard

On the façade of the Town Hall, the challenge is to find a snail and a lizard, "the nicknames of the architects who weren't allowed to sign their names." And everyone strains their eyes to locate the stone animals. Done. Without wasting a minute, we head to San Francisco, "the church of the knights," the one with the statue of Friar Junípero, born "in Petra, Mallorca, not Jordan." Inside, you can see the statue of Ramon Llull. "Does anyone know who he is?" asks the guide. Absolute silence. Bad times for mysticism and philosophy. "What did he say the restaurant was called?" asks one of the students to his wife. Bad times also for history and architecture in the tours free. Not for gastronomy. Interest grows when in the Jewish quarter, in the streets that Carme Riera revived for Inside the last blueThe next stop requires a tablet. And there are photos of an empanada, a cocarroi "of Muslim origin," and a temple cake. No sign of the ensaimada, the great defeat of the tour. And of the clichés.

From the wall, "all this was countryside" becomes "all this was sea" to speak, precisely, of the Cathedral of the Sea; the one with the rose window "the largest in the world, along with that of Notre-Dame." "It's over a hundred square meters, more than my apartment," the guide clarifies, with a pertinent comparison to illustrate the grandeur of the work. There's even room to mention Barceló's chapel. "You either love it or you hate it," the guide summarizes. "The Cathedral was considered finished and was never completed," he continues, pointing to columns without pinnacles before returning to the images of the Virgin. "There's one at each door. James I kept his promise, and everything is dedicated to her," he adds, referring to a very architecturally fruitful period.

A couple of notes about the Almudaina and Bellver cap off an hour and a half of walking, before another question from the guide arrives: "What is the word we Spaniards like most?" "Free," a woman quickly answers, introducing the tricks for visiting monuments without paying, taking advantage of mass times or open days. The time comes to pay. The average doesn't exceed ten euros per person. The price for walking accompanied by a tour express, hash, to the rhythm of reelPalma's history, architecture, and gastronomy are like videos you flip through on your phone. For the price of two ice creams (one scoop) in the historic center.