Raval de Mar, the oldest seaside neighborhood in the city

PalmIn 2012, Maria Barceló i Crespí, a doctor in Medieval History, published the book The seaside suburb of the city of Mallorca (13th-15th centuries) (Leonard Muntaner, Editor), a key work for understanding and interpreting the urban environment we want to explore on this route. A small area of urban geography that centered all maritime and commercial activity during the Middle Ages. It housed the dock and shipyard, the merchants' market, and the maritime consulate. All of this, this suburb—a neighborhood outside the city walls—was the entry and exit point for people and goods coming from the sea or departing to the city. This route does not detail schedules, only elevation changes and maximum height. It is simply a flat, family-friendly walk through narrow streets and squares full of stories, legends, and an immense architectural and cultural heritage that requires time and calm to explore unhurriedly and with all five senses. An initiative of the newspaper ARA Baleares and the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands to convey and raise awareness of the heritage of our ports, with special mention to those of Palma, Alcudia, Mahon, Ibiza, and La Savina.

The route

We begin the walk from the center of Plaça de la Drassana, at the foot of the statue of Jaume Ferrer, a 14th-century sailor. The work of sculptor Joan Grauches, it replaced an earlier statue by Jacint Mateu from the 19th century in 1915, currently visible inside the Consolat de Mar palace. From here, we head towards Paseo de Sagrera along Consolat Street and turn left in front of the headquarters of the presidency of the Balearic Government.

We are on Palma's waterfront, located in the middle of the architectural complex made up of the Consulado de Mar and the Lonja de Mercaderes, flagships of the Ciutat's historical heritage. We look towards the space that connects one building to the other; the first thing that catches our attention is the monumental gateway to the Consolat gardens. This is the Puerta Vella del Moll (1620), a reminder of the old Renaissance wall, originally located at the end of Calle de la Mar.

The Consulado de Mar is an institution created in 1326 to resolve disputes arising from maritime trade. The current building is the result of several projects and interventions throughout history, which have shaped its current appearance. The oldest part of the complex is the chapel dedicated to the Virgen de los Navegantes, located in the center of the building, built in the 1530s, but not finally completed until 1600. As for the Lonja de Mercaderes, it is a notable and monumental work by the Felanitx architect Guillem Sagrera. This is one of the finest examples of Mediterranean civil Gothic, built between 1426 and 1447. Six helical columns inside and four octagonal buttresses outside lend dynamism and strength to what had been the headquarters of the College since the 15th century, although its activity may have predated it.

We continue along Paseo de Sagrera, leaving Calle de la Mar on the left—which we will continue along later—and approach the Muelle de la Riba, a continuation of Avenida de Antoni Maura towards the interior of the Bay of Palma. We are standing on land reclaimed from the sea after the drying up of the Riera, following the flood of 1403, when the decision was made to build a new walled enclosure and divert the course of the torrent outside the gate, along the current Paseo de Mallorca. We turn right and cross Avenida Gabriel Roca, popularly known as the Paseo Marítimo, at the Ramon Llull monument, designed by Horacio de Heguía (1967). The street takes its name from the engineer who designed the layout of the works that began in the early 1940s to connect the old Riba dock with the new western port. Located on the part closest to the sea, it's worth noting a couple of details.

The first and most visible is the monument to Captain Antoni Barceló (1716-1797), a work completed in 1972 by the sculptor Remigia Caubet (1919-1997). Commissioned by the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Navigation to pay tribute to the great 18th-century Mallorcan privateer who rose to lieutenant general in the Spanish Royal Navy. Below, above ground, a small section of track remains from the old railway that connected Palma's Inca train station with the port, initially via a surface layout between 1887 and 1931, and then, until 1965, via a tunnel that crossed the entire city. Finally, we find an old building, dating from 1931, which served as the headquarters of the Port Authority until 2012, when it moved to the much more modern building next door.

Intrepid travelers of the 19th century

We turn back and head toward Calle de la Mar, now to the left of Avenida Antoni Maura. A narrow, straight street leads us back into this small, seafaring suburb. This area was once home to inns, hostels that welcomed traveling salesmen and sheltered intrepid 19th-century travelers, such as the writer George Sand and the Polish musician Frédéric Chopin. At the end of the street, we find the Gabella de la Sal (Salt Gate) or Almudí (Salt Gate), a gateway in the old medieval city wall. The name probably comes from the tax levied on the purchase or sale of basic necessities, such as salt. We pass through the gate, with its double arch—pointed on the outside and semicircular on the inside—and immediately turn left onto Carrer de Apuntadors, the northern border of the seaside suburb. We follow this until we reach Carrer de Montenegro, where we turn right and walk along it to the end. We stop in front of number 2, the house of the Despuig family, Counts of Montenegro and Montoro. Of this notable family, to which Cardinal Despuig belonged, we highlight one more: Ramon Despuig y de Rocabertí (1633–1681), a knight of the Order of Calatrava and the first Count of Montenegro, one of the shipowners of the famous 'Escuadra Mallorquina', the most important in the Corazon Mallorquina.

We exit onto Carrer de Sant Feliu, turn left, and pass two important 17th-century mansions with exterior decoration clearly inspired by Mannerism. The monstrous stone masks on the façade are noteworthy, giving rise to the street's popular name, Les Carasses. At the next fork, we turn left again onto Calle Vi, where we find the ancestral home of Antoni Barceló and Pont de la Terra (1716-1797) at number 12. A plaque from Palma City Hall to the right of the doorway of this old mansion reminds us of the appointment of Captain Antonio as an Illustrious Son of the city on January 20, 1967. From here we exit onto Calle Sant Pere, where we turn left to finish the route in Plaça de la Drassana.

@Fita_a_Fita