English Corner: Captain’s Log with Stefan Lawrence .  Today: Finca Sonreal

Escolta-ho mentre navegues

So certain am I that you will have a wonderful time, I´ve taken the liberty of planning your next day out.

That’s right, everything down to the food you should bring. Take note: one loaf of Mallorquin bread, a few ripe tomatoes, some cured cheese, Serrano ham, olive oil salt and pepper. Don´t forget a knife and a cork screw! Fuel up the car, pile in the fam and buckle up, next stop – finca Son Real.Trust me I haven`t steered you wrong yet.

How to get there. You will find the entrance to Son Real between kilometre markers 17.6 and 17.7 on the MA-12 motorway running from Can Picafort to Artá. The entrance is on the northern side of a long straight stretch. Two stone columns, each topped with a stone bollard, mark the entrance and from there a road leads you towards the houses of the possession which can be seen two hundred meters away.

Finca Son Real is an old Mallorquin estate turned public. When I say old, we’re not talking a measly five or six hundred years. Settled continuously since prehistoric times remains of human presence on the Son Real estate date back a staggering four thousand years! Archaeologists have unearthed artifacts from the pre-taliotic period 4000 years ago, the Taliotic period 3000 years ago, the Roman 2000 years ago, the Islamic settlement and the middle ages. From an archaeological stand point, this jaw dropping treasure trove makes Son Real the most important estate on the island.

Not impressed by old stuff? Not to worry, to a greater extent I confess neither am I. Quick to blame others, I pawn my archaeological irreverence off on dear old (mean old) granny who, from the deck of her cruise ship refered to Athens´ Acropolis as, and I quote “a pile of rocks!”.

Fortunately for self confessed historical dunces like myself, finca Son Real has much more on offer than “old stuff “. This estate is home to an incredible amount of biodiversity. Forty percent of all flora in the Balearic’s is represented here in multiple different habitats such as pine forests, sand dunes, wet lands and plains. All in all this three hundred and seventy nine hectare estate is a nature lovers paradise.

Capitalising on their Eden, Son Real created four different visitor itineraries, each showcasing a different part of the estate. After a minor donation to help with up keep, one can rent bicycles and tear around the grounds exploring at one’s leisure. I say tear around, in my case more like wheeze and pant. Forget this exercise malarkey, let’s stop for lunch already!

An estimated 25.000 people visit Son Real every year. Sitting hear, gazing out over the entire bay of Alcudia, gobbling our peasant fair under the cool shade of Mediterranean pines, we felt blissfully alone. The estate produces good wine hence the cork screw. They also make and sell sobrassada, and several other delicacies.

If biking around is not your shtick, you may opt for visiting the museum. Designed by Spanish architect Daniel Freixes and held inside the estate’s main building, this museum masterfully combines video and audio with state of the art technology to create an unparallelled walk through time experience. I haven´t seen anything like it on the island except for at Costa Nord museum in Valldemossa, also the work of Freixes.

Sadly most of Mallorca´s land is privately owned, horded and locked away by thirteen so called noble families. Thanks to Fundacion Baleares Sostenible, owners of Son Real estate and participation from banks including the government, visitors like myself can enjoy access to this large once private estate.

Martin Bestard, good friend and technical director of both Son Real and Cost Nord, gave us the royal tour. An avid naturalist not to be confused with nudist, Martin is a wealth of knowledge. A busy man, he always finds time to share his passion for Mallorca with others. The General director of the foundation is Jorge Campos.

Son Real has it´s own Necropolis, unquestionably the most important feature on the estate and quite possible the burial site of kings! I won´t even try to explain the extraordinary archaeological significance of this, I can`t. What I did do was take my family including Auntie Sandra down for a visit.

The burial site is comprised of around a hundred stone tombs many of which are circular in construction. The site is perched directly on the coast so near in fact that in recent years heavy storms and waves have taken their tole. As was common way back when ( scoff, scoff ) nobles and important people were buried with their prised possessions. Warriors may have been entombed with their weapons or jewelry. In one particular tomb archaeologists have found a man buried with his dog!

For more details and how you and your kids can help preserve Son Real and other incredible natural spaces, check out The Coast Busters! You may find us on facebook at “thecoastbusters ecoaction”.