The Mestre Pere fountain, the old hydraulic corridor of Ciutat

PalmThis week's route takes us to the outskirts of Palma, to the northernmost limits of the municipality, where it meets the municipalities of Valldemossa and Bunyola. This short, flat itinerary between the hamlet of La Garriga and the Mestre Pere spring along the Passatemps path introduces us to a part of Palma's immense and fascinating hydraulic heritage. Since ancient times, three springs (the Villa spring, the Baster spring, and the Mestre Pere spring) supplied the city with water through very long irrigation channels. But that wasn't their only function. Along their course, parallel to the current Valldemossa road (Ma-1110), their significant flow filled public washhouses and powered flour mills. This variant offers a glimpse into the agricultural past of Palma's outskirts.

Public transport is available. The L-12 bus line, operated by the Municipal Transport Company (EMT), connects the neighborhoods of Nou Llevant and La Garriga, crossing Palma from east to north. It allows access from avenues, Plaza de España, Carrer del 31 de Diciembre, and Carrer d'Alfonso el Magnánimo, among others, both on the return journey and the return trip. The final stop is located at the confluence of Camí del Destre and Camí de Passatemps, on a small plot of land that was once part of the Son Sardina football field, within the Son Sureda area. This is the starting and ending point of the route, which will allow for a brief visit to the village of La Garriga, a settlement linked to Son Sardina and traditionally associated with rural life, agriculture, and livestock farming. Although its use is now primarily residential.

The route

[00 min] From the EMT bus stop, we walk east along the Camí del Destre, towards the Sóller road. At number 13, on the left, we find the houses of So n'Antich, with a very curious sundial on its facade showing the date 1907. At number 45, on the right, we have the central area of La Garriga, [10 min] the Plaça d'Antoni Garau, near a village dedicated to Our Lady of the Annunciation, the old manor houses, now the Casal de Barri (neighborhood center) and formerly a public school – Catalina Bonet, who died at 104, was the last teacher of the local children until 1975 – and a group of houses in the surrounding area, built over the last century. Religious services were provided by the church of Son Sardina. The land for the oratory was donated by the owners of Can Menorca, the couple Bàrbara Palmer and Antoni Garau, to whom the square was dedicated in 2004.

After the visit, we return to the Passatemps path, precisely at the point where the Consell de Mallorca has installed the signage for this variant of the Dry Stone Route, the GR 221.4, a new hiking option within the municipality of Palma. Regarding the toponym Pasatiempos, the historian Gaspar Valero explains in his book Son Sardina, history and heritage (Leonard Muntaner Editor, 2014) which is already documented in 1357, in reference to the eponymous watermill, located on the Canet or Baster irrigation channel. Some 14th-century references also mention the Pasatiempos shed, which would have included the aforementioned mill. This path has been linked from the beginning to the established process of Son Sardina, in the 17th century. According to a popular etymology, the name comes from the Carthusian monks, owners of Son Bibiloni, who strolled along the path 'to pass the time'.

[20 min] We continue our walk towards the Mestre Pere spring. Suddenly, we leave on the right the almost erased memory of the Son Sureda sardine football field. We must be attentive, because suddenly on the left we find a path that connects with the Valldemossa road (Ma-1110). It's worth walking the first hundred meters to the Moix mill [30 min], to see the houses and the washhouse in front of it. This infrastructure depends on the flow of the Baster irrigation canal through that area. We return to the Passatemps path and continue towards the Tramuntana mountains. After passing the houses of Can Garau, on the left [35 min], from here we skirt a series of subdivisions – Cas Patró, Son Castellà, and Son Penyaflor – some of which generated serious social and political conflicts at a time when attempts were being made to bring order to the worrying lack of urban planning within the municipality of Palma. We also pass the Sona Jaume Nou and Cal Guixer properties, both on the left of the path. The path appears closed off by the sidewalks with their low walls.

At the Esporles stream [45 min], the asphalt ends and a dirt track begins. A bridge helps us cross this intermittent stream, a tributary of the Gros stream. The wall on the left disappears, replaced by a wire fence. Shortly after, we reach the Mestre Pere spring [1 hr 05 min], preceded by a dense pine forest, just before the Son Térmens orchards. We are at the confluence of the municipal boundaries of Palma, Valldemossa, and Bunyola. If we look closely, on the left side of the path, just in front of the spring's fence, we will see two stones, both acting as boundary markers. One of them, with three edges, marks the precise point where they meet.

Maestro Pedro Spring

Also known as the Dry Spring, it is a spring – still active today – that was already used in Islamic times and which in the Cast Book (1232) is listed as the Xilbar spring. We find the Mestre Pere spring at the end of the route that begins in La Garriga along the Passatemps path, which formerly continued towards Raixa and Bunyola. As mentioned before, it is located within the municipality of Palma, on the estate known as Sa Cabana des Frares, very close to the confluence with the municipalities of Valldemossa and Bunyola. It currently belongs to the municipal water company EMAYA, which manages its flow. Formerly, an irrigation channel supplied water to a significant portion of Palma's farmland and orchards.

For the return journey, we simply retrace our steps to the entrance of the village of La Garriga via the Destre path [1 hr 35 min], where we find the EMT bus stop that will take us back to the city, with connections to the train and TIB bus to Plaça d'Espanya.

@Fita_a_Fita