Mountain Spring, monumental and robust gush of the Tramuntana

PalmaThe route we present is a walk through part of the historic road network between Pollença and Lluc. An itinerary that starts from the Son Grua pine tree, a tree with its own name and a landmark in the territory, to climb up to the robust and monumental Muntanya fountain, following the old Lluc road (Ruta de Pedra en Sec/GR 221); while the descent follows the old road, the construction of which began in 1916. In between, between the old medieval road and the new road infrastructure of the early 20th century, numerous reconstructions of the old road to make it more passable, both for animals and for carts.

Long before the first section of the Ma-10, between the Can Berenguer roundabout and the Coll de la Batalla, built during the 1940s, the communications between the town and Lluc evolved from old paths that made their way through the valleys of Colonya and d'en March. Thus, according to documentation provided by the geographer Miquel Àngel March, the first path to Lluc started from Pollença towards the valley of Colonya and via Ca n’Alordes passed to the valley of d'en March through the Coll d’en Patró. Then came the path that can still be followed today and which, via the Coll de Gruat, advanced towards the valley of d'en March below the slopes of Calvari, parallel to the torrent. “All paths are lost if they are not walked,” says friend Miquel Rayó in the book Memòria de Camins (Nova Editorial Moll, 2022). After all, paths are memory, memory of our walking, of the way we relate to the space around us and to the people who inhabit it. If a path is closed to us, a part of our heritage as a people, of our identity as a country, is stolen from us.

The route

[00 min] We start walking along the old road to Lluc from the Son Grua pine tree (km 5.3 Ma-10), where line 231 stops, which connects Port de Sóller and Alcúdia via the reservoirs and Lluc. We follow the signs for the Ruta de Pedra en Sec (GR 221), which for the first two kilometers is marked by three kilometer milestones (0, 1 and 2) of the Consell de Mallorca roads, with the nomenclature Ma-2230.

After crossing a beautiful bridge over the torrent of the valley of en March [05 min], the union of the torrents of Mortitxet and Muntanya, our first steps are very flat and pleasant. Our vision is dominated by the string of mountains formed by the Tomir, the Puig de Ca de Míner and the Cuculla de Fartàritx, and by the slopes that from the Fartàritx plateau plunge vertiginously into the interior of the valley. [20 min] Shortly before the houses of Son March, on our right, we find on our left the path to Pujol, a direct route to Fartàritx del Racó. The Muntanya torrent now accompanies us, on our right. After a double, very steep bend, between Can Melcion and el Salt [30 min], the path turns to the left of the torrent – sowing of Molinet –, begins to gain height and becomes steeper.

At the height of l'Empeltada, the signage for Paratge natural de la serra de Tramuntana appears. Here we have the option of continuing along the asphalted path – the old road – opened in 2009 thanks to the pressure of the human collective of the Platform for Public Paths of Pollença, or making a first section of the old road to Lluc. [35 min] We recommend initially following the latter option. Despite the deep wear caused by runoff, the path is followed without problem, marked on the right by a dry stone wall. We cross the old road [45 min], which we will follow on the way down, and join the next section of the GR 221. From here begins a long and steep section that brings us to the foothills of Puig Tomir, below the Pas del Diable. Here the path saves an important difference in height through a route of continuous zigzags, known as 'les Voltes' of the old road.

Although it does not offer the danger of the Old Road from Caimari to Lluc, much feared by carters for the dizzying and slippery passage of the Grau, the Old Road from Pollença to Lluc also presented other challenges to its users. The novelist and writer from Barcelona, Joan Cortada i Sala, visited Mallorca in the mid-19th century, an experience he recorded in the book Viaje a la Isla de Mallorca en el estío de 1845" (Miquel Font Editor, 2008). He spent a month and a half there, from July 20 to September 10. He dedicated the month of August entirely to touring the island. In mid-August, on the 11th, he traveled the road between Pollença and Lluc. The first steps through the valley of en March took place “through a very leafy forest of centenary olive trees, whose capricious trunks offer a new object of curiosity at every step”; however, when the first bends arrived, “the road climbs up the left slope of the mountain, but it is so rough and bad that it is more suitable for goats than for men and pack animals”.

[1 h 05 min] Having overcome the section of loops and gained almost the entire elevation of the route, we arrive at a gate that marks a double partition: the first, between the estates of Ca l’Hereuet (Pollença) and Muntanya (Escorca); the second, the boundary between the two mentioned municipalities. A few minutes later [1 h 10 min], the Old Road and the Old Road merge, and, except for short sections –marked as GR–, the last steps to the fountain will be on a wide dirt path. A peaceful landing on our objective that allows us to more calmly appreciate the beauty of the landscape, dominated primarily by the holm oak forest, dense and flourishing.

Mountain Spring

Just as the old road crosses the stream on our right with a bridge, we see the last stretch of mule track to the Muntanya fountain [1 hour 30 min]. Located on the same hollow where the stream of the same name originates, we find this robust and monumental mine spring. It has an interesting mine, with an entrance arch of a semi-circular arch closed with a small gate; the vault of the mine shows a first high section, with a side channel, and a second section that goes deep to the eye of the spring, with a lower vault. Next to the mine there is a rustic stone table and stone seats. Around there are holm oaks, cypresses and reeds.

The descent has no problem. It is only a matter of following the wooden signs that indicate the old road. We will pass two gates, between the first and second, and we will enjoy some wide and picturesque sown fields, with beautiful panoramas towards the peak of Fartàritx and the March valley. [2 hours 00 min] The second gate is the one that marks the division between the properties of Muntanya and Ca l'Hereuet, between the terms of Escorca and Pollença, and it reintroduces us into the holm oak forest and the section known as 'les Voltes'. The rest until the Son Grua pine tree is smooth sailing; that is, an easy, simple and direct end to the route [3 hours 00 min].

@Fita_a_Fita