Les Feles, a daring balcony overlooking the west of the island

PalmThe following proposed long and complex itinerary brings us closer to the reality of mountain agriculture, which, despite its history, was purely subsistence. Crops were grown on thin, stony soil, often connected by poorly tracked paths and trails. The main objective is Mount Feles, a spectacular and daring balcony overlooking the west of Mallorca.

The bus stop (L-121) is located at the roundabout at the entrance to Arracó via the Strait Road. From there, we must continue on foot into the village along Carrer de França. The path, a true main street, reveals the character of this Andritxo village, built over the course of the 18th century following the construction of the Sant Crist church in 1704. While it retains the charm of the traditional houses of the inland villages, other more contemporary architectures also converge, derived from the economic evolution of the population. It's worth seeing some modernist buildings: numbers 98 and 58 on França Street and on the corner of Toledo Square, next to the church. When you reach Porvenir Street, turn left. We're on our way!

The route

[00 min] We begin the walk on Carrer del Porvenir. A few meters ahead, we find the Can Dames well on the left and, on the right, the sign for the Dry Stone Route (GR-221.1), which takes us to Les Basses, La Trapa, and the Gramola pass. The signs will be useful for the first part of the route. We take the first steps through the Clota neighborhood [10 min], along a paved road that gradually takes us through the outskirts of Arrincon.

Just where the asphalt ends and the dirt road begins, a few minutes ahead, we find the houses of Can Corso [25 min]. The old, half-ruined houses are located on the far left of a more modern building. From now on we follow the Rotes de l'Hereu path, with some initial curves that bring us closer to a kind of hill (on some maps it appears marked as Guida Pass), between Mount Guida (337 m), on the right, and Mount Can Corso (237 m), just around the corner. It is worth taking a moment to approach this hill to enjoy a beautiful panoramic view of the Arracó Valley [35 min], but above all to contemplate the remains of a cyclopean structure and a talaieta, a group of constructions documented by the archaeologist Javier Aramburu Zabala in the 'Archaeological Inventory of Andratx of 2018.

We return to the main path and now head towards the Els Sabaters hill pasture. Our walk follows the gentle slopes that extend around the Ca na Rosa stream, below the Cucons pass, between the Moro wall (left) and Guida mountain (right). [50 min] These are the Rotes de l'Hereu, which, along with Les Basses, constitute one of the most extensive and demanding areas of agricultural exploitation on the route. The broken soils, generally cultivated on thin, poor, and unprofitable soil, represent the toughest aspect of subsistence farming in the Mallorcan countryside. Gentle curves take us up to the Cucons pass [1 h 05 min], and then we begin a rapid descent to the bottom of the hill pasture, where the Bosc spring stream flows. We are barely a kilometer from Las Balsas. But just as the path goes uphill, [1 h 30 min] we find a litter on the left, next to a lime kiln, which we must follow. We enter the Font coma and follow the path to the pass (405 m) [1 h 55 min] that separates the Moro wall, on the left, and the Forn point, on the right.

Standing on the Coma de la Font pass, facing Llebeig, we face the Fel·les mountain. From the outset, we must look for a tyrannical rock to accompany us on our descent to the Les Fites pass [2 h 20 min]. Visible from our position, it extends to the right side between the Puntal del Forn and the Fel·les. Once positioned on the pass, we advance towards the wall in front of us, deviating slightly to the left. Soon, a few scattered cairns will guide us to the start of the Garballons pass [2 h 25 min]. We ascend a well-roasted and, in places, somewhat broken slope, which forces us to be cautious and not to make any unsure passage. With the help of our hands and legs, pushed by all our courage, we reach the ridge, but not completely, because the summit is a little further to the left. Some milestone and all our intuition guide us towards a hill, after which we are already at the top of the Fel·les mountain [3 h 00 min].

Although in the Toponymic Gazetteer of the Balearic Islands (Notib) doesn't mention it, but it seems the correct form of this toponym would be Ferles. That is, it could be a phytonym related to "hacerla" (to make it) or "cañaferla" (to cane ferla), also known as "fenollassa" (a plant in the Apiaceae family), native to the Mediterranean region. Its habitat is dry grasslands, garrigues (a scrubland), rocky slopes, roadsides, and abandoned fields, always on limestone soils.

Puig d'en Farineta

We begin the descent from the summit marker, following the ridge down with Mount Farineta in our faces. Gradually, a path becomes visible that makes the descent easier (or, to put it mildly, clarifies it). As we approach the Collado de las Palomas, the path also becomes more clearly oriented. [3 h 35 min] Suddenly, we land on a plain with remains of buildings, old cliffs, and charcoal burners' huts. We stay midway along the mountain pass, without choosing one side or the other. However it is clearest and most comfortable for us, we should be able to reach the bottom of the face of Mount Farineta [3 h 50 min]. To our left, there is a fork; we should take the leftmost ridge. On the other side, we look for a way up the mountain. We find waymarks that guide us closer to the face; it is not the original path, but it is the clearest. After a rough and stony descent, we finally reach the Ca na Rosa stream. We turn right, down the coast. We soon find a path that we follow parallel to the torrent until the next fork [4:00 a.m.], where we take the path on the right that, via other routes, should lead us to the Arracó cemetery, a few meters from the Palomera pass [4:20 a.m.].

From the cemetery parking lot, we continue along the road (Ma-1030) towards Sant Telm, just a hundred meters. We soon leave the asphalt on the left to follow the dirt road that should accompany us to the Son Tió neighborhood in the direction of Arracó, by the Ca na Rosa well, a short distance from the roundabout, where we have the bus stop [5:05 a.m.].

@Fita_a_Fita