Menorca (Spain)

...expect. Its in Minorca or Menorca however you want to spell or pronounce it.

For the purpose of this review I will refer to it as Minorca.
Minorca is part of a collection of islands called the Balearics. There are four islands, Minorca being the second largest. The well known Majorca being the largest and Ibiza, and Formentura making up the collection of four.

This island lies in the Western Mediterranean. To ...
...to the west the Spanish mainland, and to the South lies Algiers. The island is almost exactly centrally equidistant from each of these places. This means it is almost exactly the same distance from them all.

The island is only forty eight kilometres from one end to the other at its longest point.

I have recently been aware of perhaps subconsciously avoiding Minorca. I have visited mainland Spain extensively, the Canaries, ... more

Where is Shangri la?
I was always led to believe it was the perfect place to be.
Shangri la in India, (Nepal) or would it be Pennsylvania in the USA? Both have places named after it. So do a few others.

I have found mine and it is not in a place you would expect. Its in Minorca or Menorca however you want to spell or pronounce it.

For the purpose of this review I will refer to it as Minorca.
Minorca is part of a collection of islands called the Balearics. There are four islands, Minorca being the second largest. The well known Majorca being the largest and Ibiza, and Formentura making up the collection of four.

This island lies in the Western Mediterranean. To the east is Sardinia, to the North is Marseille, (France) to the west the Spanish mainland, and to the South lies Algiers. The island is almost exactly centrally equidistant from each of these places. This means it is almost exactly the same distance from them all.

The island is only forty eight kilometres from one end to the other at its longest point.

I have recently been aware of perhaps subconsciously avoiding Minorca. I have visited mainland Spain extensively, the Canaries, Majorca, Formentura, and Ibiza in the past but unfortunately for some reason always listened to other peoples opinions on Minorca, something I do not ever usually do. “Much too quiet”, was the usual story. Nothing much to see or do was another.

Well I certainly got one of the most pleasant surprises of my life when I visited Minorca only five weeks ago. I have visited almost every country in Europe, and a few in Africa.
Add to this the rest of the Balearics, Lanzarote, and Gran canaria, in the Canaries, Zante, and Crete and I am sure you will agree I can speak with authority and experience.

Unlike many islands and other tourist destinations across Europe and the Mediterranean the islanders have become increasingly concerned with preserving the natural environment. They realised that unlicensed and indiscriminate urbanisation could cause irreversible damage to their environment and took steps to halt it.
The United Nations then made Minorca a “Reserve of the biosphere”.
This is a preservation order with different levels of protection for different areas of the island.
The Spanish government then added different classifications for sites of scientific interest, of which there are nineteen.

A SHORT HISTORY

Minorca has undergone many changes of ownership through the ages. People from mainland Spain and the Eastern Mediterranean are believed to be the first, estimated to be around 4000BC. The Phoenicians followed, together with the Greeks to expand their trade.
The Carthaginians then invaded with very different intentions, led by Hagon, Hannibal’s brother.

They were in turn followed by the all conquering Romans in 123BC. They built roads and reinforced the settlements and towns. The islanders appeared to have lived in harmony with the Romans until the 5th Century when the Vandals arrived and persecuted the Christian society that had established there.
In 533AD the Byzantines overthrew the Vandals restoring Christianity and then, for four hundred years there is relatively little known about the island.

In 903AD the Moors again destroyed the Christian community but introduced new farming techniques which made the land more fertile and productive.

In the 13th century, the Balearics together with all the rest of the Iberian Peninsula was captured by Spain.

From then on the island endured epidemics, pestilence, poverty, and internal conflict until the end of the middle ages. In 1535 and again in 1558 the Turks attacked and destroyed the two largest cities of Mahon (Mao), and Ciatadella.

In the seventeenth century the island fared little better with bubonic plague, pirate raids, and locust infestations.

In the eighteenth century the islands fortunes changed. Internal squabbling and civil war within Spain gave the British the chance to invade. In 1708 they took the island with hardly a shot being fired.

In 1756 the French invaded the island and the British withdrew. In 1763 the British again
attacked the island and seized it from the French.

In 1783 a joint French-Spanish force re-captured the island.
Once again in 1798 the British returned for the last time, and in 1802 eventually returned the island to the Spanish crown where it remains today.

Because of this rich diversity of historical ethnicities in the islands very chequered past, it has left the visitor with many varied places of interest to visit. I for one am not a beach lover and like nothing more than to explore old forts, castles, tombs, churches, ancient monuments, and historical remains.

This island has them in absolute abundance and you can imagine how delighted I was when I found out. There are literally hundreds of historical sites from different historical eras to visit and explore. There are far too many to list here, although Fort Marlborough, just outside Mahon, was my favourite.
This is an old British fort built to protect the harbour and is a myriad of tunnels and caves.
Some of the popular television programme “Horn blower” was filmed near here.

BEACHES

The diversity and type of beaches are numerous, from long sandy ones at Son Bou in the South, to the ruggedness and rocky terrain of Tortugas, Sa Mesquida, and Morella in the North.

Again the beaches are too numerous to mention and they vary from little more than a few metres to 4 kilometres in length. Some are easily accessible as they are in tourist areas but there is an abundance of smaller beautiful ones hidden away. For these you will need a car. We must have visited at least 50 beaches on our excursions. My favourite was definitely Cala Mitjaneta.

A word of warning. Because of the classification of the island by the United Nations some of these beaches are very difficult to access due to the fact that they do not build roads to reach them. Some involve long walks and climbing steep terrain to reach, so you must be fit.
Nudism is actually illegal on Minorca but there are beaches we found that do cater for the naturalists amongst you. Albeit they are off the beaten track.

COUNTRYSIDE

The countryside varies considerably depending on which side of the island you are on. The North generally consists of gently rolling hills and is more steeply inclined.

The South is flatter and more rustic.
There is some beautiful countryside all around Minorca including pine forests and some excellent walks, but make sure you take plenty of water as it gets very hot in July and August when we visited.

A little tip here is that if you buy bottles of Mineral water put them in the freezer the night before and they will stay cold for all of the next day.
Added to this the natural salt water lagoon at Es Grau and the nature park surrounding it, there is plenty of countryside, flora, and fauna to explore if you are a walker.

OUT AND ABOUT

Unless you are happy to sit by the pool or beach all day and/or stay in your resort I would highly recommend hiring a car.

This island is impossible to explore properly without one. Demand for cars in high season is astronomical and it is almost impossible to hire one without pre-booking. I had not pre-booked mine and I was very lucky I walked in the car hire shop at the right time.

To hire a car costs from about 40 Euros a day for the smaller vehicles up to 200 Euros a day for the top of the range cars, but you can get them cheaper if you shop around, obviously though, the cheaper shops are the more popular ones.
Most of the vehicles are new or nearly new and all come with a full tank of fuel. An interesting point to make here is that there are only eight garages to fill up the car on the whole island. So make sure you know where they all are.

The speed limit is 50kph in town, 30kph on the narrow country lanes, and 90kph on the main roads. There are no dual carriageways and no motorways.

There is no rush hour, and I never encountered one traffic jam for the whole two weeks I was there. There are no speed cameras and traffic wardens do not exist. The drivers are courteous and polite and it was the most enjoyable two weeks driving I have had in ten years.

There are no trains on Minorca.
Buses, although reliable and relatively cheap are sparse with long waits between services.
Ferries operate from Mahon to the Spanish mainland and Majorca.

NIGHTLIFE

Compared to most Spanish destinations Minorca is quiet at night. Some tourist areas do have discotheques and nightclubs but generally they are sparse. Nightlife is generally bar or restaurant orientated, with only a few of them staying open until 2 or 3am. There are virtually no all-night establishments. One can be found however in Cala-en-Porter and is world famous, called the Caves of Xoroi. It is 30 Euros for admittance and is built into a 200 foot sheer cliff face. The whole place is one huge cave. Its worth a visit in the daytime for the wonderful views from its balconies.

RESTAURANTS, EATING AND DRINKING

Cheese and Gin are the two most gastronomically interesting products produced on Minorca.
The Gin is produced at the distillery in Mahon on the harbour front. This can be visited free of charge and sells various alcoholic beverages made on site.

The cheese is produced everywhere on the island and has three different maturities and tastes a bit like our own cheddar. This can be bought quite cheaply and is ok to bring back to the UK. It keeps for quite some time, but don’t let the customs catch you as it is illegal apparently, because it can spread diseases.

Supermarkets are widespread but nothing on the superstore scale we get here. They sell almost everything you would want and the prices are roughly the same as here as long as you buy the Minorcan version. Imported foods, such as Heinz baked beans are more expensive. A loaf of king’s mill bread is about £2.00. I found sweets very expensive with the exception of chocolate which is very cheap. 200 cigarettes will cost about £22.00
Beer is cheap in the supermarkets with most 500ml cans about 40p each.

Drinking in the bars varies from bar to bar but is comparable with the UK. Two rounds of a pint of decent lager and Gin and bitter lemons was about £8.00, mind you they do tend to give you about 3 times the normal measure of spirit you get here.

Wine is very cheap, although soft drinks are about £1.00 a can. Water is also very cheap, about £1.00 for five litres.

To buy a meal for two, with a drink each, in a reasonable restaurant costs between £12.00 and £18.00. The available food obviously differs depending on the establishment, but French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Minorcan, are all widespread, and of course the British fried breakfast is also available. Fresh fish and shellfish are very popular and easy to obtain.

HIGHLIGHTS

It is very difficult for me choose places or events on my Minorcan visit that I could point out to you as “highlights”, as your taste may not be the same as mine. I found that the island inspired me as soon as I arrived and found out what was available for my perusal and exploration.
I felt like a greyhound waiting to be released from the traps.

The beaches and natural scenery are spectacular and are so different from the rest of the Balearics and Spain in general.

The diversity between North and South was very evident in places and I often stood in awe at the sights that befell my eyes after another climb or walk to reach them. I feel Minorca is a shining jewel of an example of how an ideal world should be.

Its troubled history belies a place of such genuine natural beauty and tranquillity.

The people are warm and genuine and in the villages they will invite you into their homes with open arms, apart from Mahon, and the tourist centres, and they are kept strictly apart, commercialism is non-existent.

My complete visit was a highlight from start to finish.

CONCLUSION

I have already told you about the many different places I have had the fortune to be able to visit during my life. I have seen numerable sites and places of interest. I have met many people and integrated with various cultures. I am not like the usual run of the mill tourist I suppose. I visit the smaller out of the way places and talk to the locals. I try to live like them to the best of my ability. I eat their food, and I communicate in their language with them, and continually observe their mannerisms, habits and true way of life.

Minorca does not just have lovely scenery, beaches, food, culture, and lifestyle. It is the whole combined atmosphere that combines to make this island what it is.

I can honestly say that Minorca is my Shangri la.

(footnote) Shangri la can be found just outside Es Grau on the North side of the island.
PS. Any Minorcans reading this, please feel free to adopt me.

 

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