Palma City inc. Palma Old-Town and Santa Catalina
As well as having beautiful architecture, a rich history and notable museums and art galleries, Palma offers a lively, cosmopolitan living environment with an abundance of excellent restaurants, high quality shops, a varied night-life and many other forms of entertainment.
Journey time to the airport is just 5-10 minutes.
Access to other parts of the island is good, with the Via Centura ring road radiating out via motorways to most parts of the island. There are few places that cannot be reached within one hour.
The city is made up of a number of distinct areas. International property buyers are most likely to focus on Palma Old Town, Santa Catalina, Paseo Maritimo and el El Terreno.
Click on the locations below for more detailed information.
The Old Town extends behind the Cathedral into Calatrava and west of the cathedral into Sa Llotja. Paseo Borne and Jaime III, are effectively part of the Old Town area and form the hub of the many high quality shops and restaurants to be found there.
Properties and prices
Most of the properties available in the Old Town are apartment conversions in old townhouses and palaces. Many have been renovated, although some still need modernising and offer exciting opportunities.
1-bed pied a terres can be found from €175,000 and prices for larger apartments rise well into seven-figures. Properties in the very best locations such as D’Alt Murada range up from €1.5 million. Sought-after features are sea views, outside space and garage parking.
Santa Catalina has a charming, somewhat bohemian character, with many restaurants, bars and boutique shops. There is also a very good covered market selling high quality produce from Mallorca and around the world. It is a cosmopolitan and lively district with a mixture of locals and other nationalities. Santa Catalina is very popular with the yachting fraternity and the area has become a sought-after place to live or own rental properties.
Properties and prices
Apartments in Santa Catalina range from around €380,000 for a 2-bed in a decent location with a balcony or small terrace. The best properties are close to the centre with its market, restaurants and bars. Good outside spaces, garage parking and open views are sought-after features. Properties with these features in central locations will cost upward of €700,000.
Paseo Maritimo is characterised by large hotels mixed with luxury seafront apartment blocks. It is a lively area with nightclubs, varied bars and many restaurants.
El Terreno sits behind Paseo Maritimo and was originally a wealthy suburb to central Palma. As the city has grown, El Terreno has become part of it and now offers a mixed residential area with many restaurants, bars and clubs. Generally this is a place for permanent residents, although second home buyers have taken a greater interest in recent years.
Properties and prices
The apartment blocks of Paseo Maritimo are home to many Spanish as well as other nationalities. The buildings are mostly from the 1950s, 60s and 70s, so the most desirable apartments are those that have been modernised and are in well-maintained high-quality buildings.
Properties with good sea view terraces are particularly sought after. Prices range from around €350,000 to seven-figure sums for the best properties.
El Terreno offers a greater diversity of types of property. There are some grand old mansions, a few of which are still single residences while others have been converted to apartments. There are also modern townhouses and apartment developments. Prices range from around €200,000 for an apartment to €700,000 or more for a spacious townhouse, the best of which have private pools and sea views.
