The Red Pintal, the beautiful mountain of an enchanted island

PalmThis week's route explores the dry, earthen hills of the municipality of Andratx. El Arracó is a hamlet within the municipality of Andratx, established during the 18th century, halfway between the town of Andratx and the port of Sant Elm, following the construction of the Church of Sant Crist in 1704. Inside, we find the image of the Virgin of La Trapa, from the lost world. It retains the charm of traditional inland village houses, although some Modernist-style buildings reveal the economic evolution of some families who migrated abroad, mostly to France. We find them on the main street, on Carrer de França (numbers 98 and 58), and on the corner of Plaça de Toledo, next to the church.

Public transport is available to reach the starting and ending points of the route. This is the L-121 bus line, which connects Andratx, Arracó, and Sant Elm (for more information on routes and timetables, please consult the website). tib.orgSince the bus stop is located at the same roundabout as the entrance to the town of Andratx, we recommend visiting the church and the three aforementioned modernist-style houses.

The route

[00 min] From the same roundabout, we enter Arracó via Carrer de França. After crossing a pedestrian footbridge over the Font del Bosc stream, we turn left onto Camí del Castellàs. We pass the sports facilities of the Vinya municipal field on our left and continue straight ahead. Ignore the two turnoffs to the right that appear along this section of the route, until a final fork where our path turns left and narrows. We enter the grounds of Can Farineta, houses that we soon find behind a wire fence, on the right side of the path [20 min].

We do not leave the aforementioned fence, because from here the path continues well oriented towards the west, facing the Farineta mountain (334 m), popular because it houses a viewpoint and a refuge/shelter on its summit, which the Mallorca Tourism Board inaugurated in 1958. [The following appears to be a separate, unrelated entry:] prominent partner of the entity and author of the book 50 walking tours around the island of Mallorca (1964). The path quickly enters the Ca na Rosa stream valley, [25 min] at which point we must be attentive to the turnoff we find on the left, which follows the stream along its right bank. This path leads us through some old ruts, where we can still make out the rough buildings that once housed the hardworking farmers and their families. We cross a second valley through which flows a tributary of the Ca na Rosa stream. Thus we emerge just behind the Arracó cemetery (45 min), below the Palomera pass, where the reading of The Enchanted Islands by the Andritxol writer Baltasar Porcel (Andratx, 1937 - Barcelona, ​​2009).

An enchanted place

"The toponym Palomera remains only on a hill, the Coll de la Palomera, which separates the Arracón valley from that of San Telmo. It is above the same area as the Arracón cemetery. There was a tower here before, which was supposed to belong to Ali de la Palomera, a fantastic character who swam to the ship of the Moorish king and whose mother read destiny in the stars. The chronicles tell of it. As a child, going to Sant Telm and coming back, I climbed dozens of times to the site of the tower looking for it... Three years ago I went back. You have to look carefully: there where the treasure is, a small black bus about three fingers high comes out of the ground" (The Enchanted IslandsBaltasar Porcel y Pujol. Ediciones 62, 1984).

From the cemetery, we walk a short distance along the road (Ma-1030) towards Sant Elm to the first bend. A few meters before the Palomera pass, [50 min] we leave the road to the left, following the sign for "Barri Son Tió". We walk along a dirt track which in a few minutes connects with another paved track coming from the left from Arracó [1 hr 00 min]. This is variant 1 of the GR 221, which we will follow on the return journey. Now we continue along the same track uphill until we find a chalet on the right, where the asphalt ends [1 hr 10 min]. We follow the GR markers and continue along a very steep dirt track towards Cala en Tió, which climbs between Tres Picons (236 m) on the right and the crags of the Son Nadal mountain range and Mount Ric (312 m), marked by antennas, on the left. We continue until we reach the Collado de la Barrera pass (226 m), where the variant of the Dry Stone Route ends and joins the main route [1 hr 20 min]. Here, we leave the dirt track and turn left towards the Port of Andratx (GR 221), following a well-marked path indicated by the GR's wooden stakes, which we follow until we reach the Paso Rojo pass [1 hr 30 min]. Located 286 meters above sea level, this is a relatively easy pass, through which the old road that connected the Port of Andratx and Sant Elm once passed. The ferrous minerals present in the rock are what give it its reddish color, from which it takes its name.

A splendid panoramic view

Having crossed the exit crevice of the pass, we descend a few meters and turn right, towards Llebeig, along a wide path to the end [1 hr 40 min]. If we look to the right from here, we will see a little further up the geodetic vertex of Puntal or Pintal Rojo (312m), an ideal spot to enjoy a splendid panoramic view of the port of Sant Elm and the island of Dragonera. A little further to the right is the crag of Puntal del Forn (459m), behind which La Trapa is hidden. We could identify many more place names, but we leave it as a fun exercise for anyone who approaches Pintal Rojo following our directions.

For the return to Arracó, we retrace our steps to the Paso Rojo, descend to the Collado de la Barrera [2 h 00 min], and follow the GR-221.1 variant signs to the village along the old Son Tió road, formerly the Alfixna farmhouse. We pass through a charming hamlet comprised of Son Cortey, Ca Madò Bet, and Can Prim. Next, before reaching the Sant Telm road (Ma-1030), we find Can Viguet. On the way to the village of Arracó, aligned with the right side of the road, is the Ca na Rosa well, a typical chapel well, very common in the region. We reach the roundabout at the entrance to Arracó, where the route ends [2 h 40 min].

@Fita_a_Fita