There are a selection of businesses normally for sale in the resort of S’Illot. These can range from British owned bars to Spanish restaurants and the occasional shop. S’Illot itself is a quieter resort although has grown in recent years to meet its neighbour Cala Bona. This has created additional business for the bars in the area. Buying a business in S’Illot can be a good investment if you are careful about the location.

Please scroll down the page for more detailed resort information.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTc6uSOoMwY

Resort Information -- S’Illot

The resorts of S’Illot and its nearest neighbour Sa Coma, are part of the municipal district of Sant Llorenç des Cardassar, and are situated along the east coast of Majorca, neatly sandwiched between the resorts of Cala Millor and Porto Cristo.

Public transport around all of the east coast is at best “unreliable”, but for the very brave or very foolish, buses do run into Palma 4 times each day during the summer, inland to Manacor 9 times a day, south to the Caves of Drach 5 times a day, and north to the resort of Cala Millor 10 times each day. Over the years many visitors to Mallorca have asked us for information on bus timetables, and although our general advice is the “sit and wait, and enjoy the sun”, timetables are published each year on the bus stops throughout the town and also on local bus operator’s Aumasa web site, although, clearly no responsibility can be accepted as to either the content or accuracy of information provided by these external sources.

Most visitors to S’Illot would be surprised to learn that until the late 1970′s the east coast of Majorca did actually have its own railway line running from Manacor to Arta, passing through the local towns of Sant Llorenç and Son Carrió. Although the grand station of “Pou Vell” still remains in the centre of Sant Llorenç, sadly there are no plans to reinstate this line, which for a relatively small investment of the much hated “tourist tax”, would undoubtedly prove to be both a major tourist attraction and amenity for the area.

Unlike nearby Sa Coma, the resort of S’Illot is not a modern purpose built holiday resort, but a traditional Mallorcan fishing village that really only started to adapt during the mid 1980′s to meet the ever increasing demand for tourist accommodation on the island. Visitors to S’Illot will often stand and stare as the few remaining fishing boats here are hauled up each day, over the rocks and onto a concrete ramp at the end of the beach.

Over the last 25 years or so, S’Illot has continued to grow in a fairly controlled manner by Mallorcan standards. In all fairness to the local council, considerable efforts have clearly been made to maintain “green zones” and to extend protection over areas of special environmental interest, the most notable of these being the Punta de n’Amer headland which we’ll cover in more detail on our Attractions page, and it is sincerely hoped that this policy is allowed to continue into the long term against the ever increasing demand for tourist beds.

A wide traffic free promenade also runs through S’Illot, north towards the resort of Sa Coma and south to the smaller sheltered beach of Cala Moreya, which you may sometimes see written as Cala Moraia. If during your stay here you venture into Sa Coma, don’t expect to find a mirror image of S’Illot, as most visitors find the contrast between the two resorts to be quite surprising.

If you are looking for all night karaoke bars or night clubs with foam parties every night, I am afraid that S’Illot just will not appeal to you. Evening entertainment here is generally hotel based, although the resort does have a small number of lively bars, but even these tend to have few customers after about midnight reflecting the family market that the town attracts. However, if you ever tire of S’Illot and are looking for a wider selection of bars and restaurants, the “bright lights” of the more lively Cala Millor are only around 5 minutes away by taxi.

The resort of Porto Colom in the South East of Mallorca normally has a selection of bars and restaurants for sale. These are to be found in the central square or in the adjoining beach area of Cala Marsal.

The trade in this area is mainly UK and German with a good level of resident ex pats giving a small possibility of a Winter trade.

There has been a downturn of UK visitors to Porto Colom in recent years but this looks set to improve with a major UK tour operator coming back to the area.

There can be some bargain priced bars and restaurants around here if you know where to look and who to ask.

Please scroll down for more detailed resort information.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv9mSHjOjus

Resort Information -- Porto Colom

The resort of Porto Colom is the principle coastal development of the municipal district of Felanitx, on the southern half of the east coast of Majorca. Although as the crow flies the resort is only around 65km, or 40 miles east of Palma and the Son Sant Joan International airport, it has to be said that the road over to the east coast is not particularly good, and it is not unusual for the transfer to take approximately 1.1/2 to 2 hours from the time you actually leave the airport grounds.

The municipality as a whole covers an area of around 170 km2, and along with the administrative town of Felanitx encompasses a handful of picturesque inland villages, and the two other coastal resorts of Cala Ferrera and Cala Serena.

The name of “Felanitx” originates from the Latin word “fenalicius”, which roughly translates into English as “a place where fenas grows”, although records show that the first signs of human settlement in the area actually took place over 2000 years before the birth of Christ.

Porto Colom is the site of one of the most important, and best preserved, “Naveta” or prehistoric burial sites on Majorca, and for this reason in 1996 the Department of Prehistory of the University of the Balearic Islands established the archaeology project known as “Projecte Closos of Can Gaià”, in an attempt to further understand the ancient civilisations of the island.

Porto Colom still remains a small traditional fishing village, that has so far resisted full scale tourist commercialisation. A small amount of mainly residential building work is going on, although the town will never become another Magaluf or Palma Nova.

The main feature of the town is the large natural harbour, which is the home to a number of small fishing boats and an ever increasing number of leisure craft. From the harbour looking inland on a clear day, it’s also possible to see the Sanctuary of Sant Salvador in the distance.

Around the harbour area there is a fair selection of shops for the everyday holiday essentials, along with more souvenir shops behind the beach at Cala Marcal, and it is here to a large extent, that most of the tourist development has taken place. The town has two reasonably sized supermarkets the first “Ca’s Corso”, is next to the Ca’s Corso Apartments and the other Spar is situated by the side the harbour next to the Club Nautico offices. Both offer a good selection of fresh and cooked meats, wines and spirits, fresh fruit and vegetables, along with Mallorquin specialities and British branded products. But don’t expect too much competition with their prices, as they are both owned by the same people.

The resort is very popular with British visitors who aren’t looking for mass commercialisation in a resort, such as water parks and countless karaoke bars, many of which who have subsequently fallen in love with the resort and bought second homes in the area.

Holiday accommodation here mostly falls within the 3 or 4 star standard, which is then supplemented with a fair selection of good value self catering apartments to choose from.