The Barranco Grande, a long and deep ravine to the east of Palma

PalmThis week's route takes us through the eastern part of the municipality of Palma, near the Algaida district. We skirt the famous Xorrigo coast and venture into the Gran de Son Gual ravine, a long, deep depression that feeds into the former Sant Jordi meadow, a small lagoon drained in the mid-19th century by the Dutch engineer Paul Bouvy (1807-1868). Our starting and finishing point is at the confluence of the old Manacor road and the Acequia path, on the point between the former estates of Son Ferrer and Son Gual, documented in the Cast Book (1232). Lands steeped in history, where goods, contraband parcels, sandstone blocks, and exiles once flowed, and where, more recently, urban sprawl has taken root. The paths of Palma are unfathomable, as are the stories that have permeated its soil. If using public transport, Palma's EMT bus line 14 stops right next to the Son Gual headland (stop 841/emtpalma.cat).

The route

[00 min] Before the Manacor motorway (Ma-15), Sa Punta and Es Control were essential stops for the daily traffic of cars and trucks along that road. A decade and a half later, that same place is a pale shadow of its former self, serving as a point of reference—both historical and sentimental—for the start of our walk. We begin walking east along a path parallel to the road—marked by the Consell de Mallorca as Public Domain—towards the Xorrigo coast, skirting the fence and the cultivated fields of Son Gual point, which are very close to the asphalt, on our left. We quickly reach a service road of the motorway that connects to the roundabout accessing the Son Gual bay [10 min].

Shortly before the paved road turns right to climb the hill where the golf course's houses and central facilities are located, [25 min] we find a maintenance shed on the left. We enter and turn sharply right onto the dirt track that begins there. This is the true starting point of a route that will take us first along the high hills that mark the boundary between Xorrigo and Son Gual, and then along the long, narrow, and deep Barranco Grande de Son Gual ravine, also known as Es Clot Net. At the first fork, we ignore the path coming straight ahead, which we will take on the return journey, and turn left. We now follow a kind of dirt track that climbs the left side of the ravine, very close to the road, offering a wide view of the lands of the former Horta de Baix, now Sant Jordi and Casa Blanca.

At the second fork, we turn left and then leave the path to head towards a wall on our right [50 min]. This is necessary to get past the impassable barrier blocking the dirt track. A few meters further on, to the right, hidden under some wild olive trees, we find an old smuggling 'secret'. From this wall, we continue uphill towards the north until we rejoin the path we were following, again heading east. Caution, because on this section of the route we find some beehives (colmenas, usually pronounced 'will fall' either 'fellFrom the scrubland, we enter a dense pine forest that now covers much of the old quarries found in this area, to the right of the path [1 hr 15 min]. A dry stone wall made of sandstone serves as a landmark to locate this extraction site, a material that has been fundamental to the architecture of our island for centuries. We continue uphill, towards the end of the Xorrigo coast, at the entrance to the Son Gual development. We pass another section of dry stone wall on the right, with a slab marking the boundary between the two properties we are traversing on this route, Son Gual and Xorrigo. Meanwhile, the famous 'chupa-chups' (lollipop) begins to appear on the near horizon. Man and the roads (2006) is the title of the artistic intervention by the Argentinian Carlos Galeano at the Son Gual water reservoir, commissioned by the Consell de Mallorca. Water droplets on a white background illustrate the just over 26 meters in height of this iconic structure, which has defined the Manacor road since its inception. [1 hr 30 min] We reach the roundabout accessing the Son Gual residential area from the Manacor highway (Ma-15), where we find a stop for the Tib bus (L-403), just down the road.

The descent of the ravine

We continue along the road that leads into the residential area and proceed for about three hundred meters, right to the point where it crosses a ford. This is the beginning of the Gran de Son Gual ravine, also called Es Clot Net. To the right, some metal barriers, which prevent the passage of vehicles but not pedestrians, mark the exact spot from which we begin our descent along an old path that led down to a former gravel pit, active during the 1950s. Little by little, we feel the narrowness and depth of the ravine, which sharply constricts the path until it becomes a narrow trail. Initially, we proceed along the narrow ridge that separates the two hills on which the Son Gual I and II housing developments are located. [2 h 15 min] Just where the ravine widens, we find the gravel pit on the left, and on the right, a few meters from the main path, the house of Dr. Claverol, a well-known and respected man, both for his moral and religious integrity and for his unique methods of treating illnesses in the 1930s in Sant Jordi. To see the house, currently in ruins, we will access it via a sort of path, very overgrown with scrub, past the gravel pit, a few meters after crossing the center of the ravine.

We rejoin the main path of the Gran de Son Gual ravine and continue our walk. We soon come to a barrier [2 h 25 min], which is the golf course fence and which we can easily pass on the left. A little further on, [2 h 40 min] we leave the center of the ravine and turn sharply to the right to follow the track that climbs quickly and briefly. Next, turn left to continue the descent towards the golf course and complete the loop next to a hangar that houses the golf course maintenance equipment [2 h 55 min]. From here, follow the same route as on the way out until you reach Sa Punta and Es Control, where your walk ends [3 h 25 min].

@Fita_a_Fita