Majorca
Even though Majorca is a true tourism destination with its eight million visitors each year and one of the most frequented airports of Europe, the island still has a lot of natural beauty and calm spots to offer. Majorca is the king of windmills, of olive trees that were planted years ago and of small, virgin beaches where you can pass your siesta within tranquility. Just a few kilometers outside Palma, you will already find the authentic Majorca with the turquoise sea water that contrasts the light green of the pine trees, the silver gray of the olive trees that cover the slopes of the Sierra de Tramuntana, and the picturesque villages hidden in the flanks of the mountains…
Majorca is a large island of 76km in width and 96km in length. In the Northwest and Southeast the island is flanked by two mountain ranges. The Sierra de Tramuntana in the Northwest accommodates the highest mountains of the island. The highest summit is the Puig Major (1445m). The mountain ranges covered with woods and sometimes with steep walls of several hundreds of meters seem to rise up from the sea as giant sawed rocks. On the other hand, the Sierras de Llevant on the East coast offer more modest elevations. Its sloping walls with caves and deep inlets elevate gradually and smoothly till the top of Son Morell (562m). A central plain, created by the accumulation of alluvium and marine sediment materials, separates these two mountain ranges. The reddish colored earth is very suitable for cultivating cereals, fruit trees and the vine. The extremes of this plain are filled with extensive bays, like the ones of Pollença and Alcúdia in the North and those of Palma and Campos in the South. The lagoons and marshes that are extended along these coasts accommodate areas filled with rich flora and fauna.
Majorca has a surprising diversity of natural habitats and ecosystems. There are about 1500 different flower and plant species on the island of which 40 are endemic. The forests on the island remain green throughout the year. The forests consist mainly out of Alepo pine trees, usually found close to the sandy beaches, and oak trees that are more common in the humid zones in the North of the Sierra de Tramuntana. Furthermore there’s a lot of interesting flower and plant life to be found in the dunes and along walking paths. The fields that are used for agriculture are covered in vineyards, almond fields, orange, lemon and olive trees.
Cabrera
The archipelago of Cabrera prolongs south of the Sierras de Llevant. The coasts of Cabrera, the biggest of the 17 mini islands in this archipelago, are trimmed in such a way that its perimeter reaches a length of 34 km although the surface of the island is only 16 km2. The exceptional landscapes and fauna on Cabrera are definitely worth a visit if you are a lover of nature. Besides manual notable monuments and the ruins of the ancient fortress, there’s so much natural beauty to see. The harbor of the island lies in a magnificent, almost circular inlet. Along its coast you will find numerous beaches with clear, transparent water in which you can swim and at the same time enjoy the exceptionally rich submarine flora and fauna. Here you will even find species that normally only appear much deeper. Also the bird life in the sky above Cabrera is wonderful and on the island you can find a lizard specie called Lacerta Lifordi, which has practically disappeared in other regions.
Menorca
The natural environment of Menorca might not compete with Majorca in beauty, but still Enesco declared the island a biosphere reserve in 1993. The inhabitants of Menorca take great care in the environment and they make sure to keep tourism within acceptable limits in order to preserve their natural richness. The highest point on Menorca is Monte Toro of 358m. Seen from the plane, the island looks like a mosaic work with low rock walls bordering the many fields. The Menorca vegetation is typically Mediterranean with its lentil, olive and fig trees, rockroses and junipers.
Ibiza
Geologists often refer to Ibiza, Formentera and some of the surrounding mini islands as Las Pitiusas, or Pine tree Islands. Besides the pine trees Ibiza is also known for its many white, sandy beaches and high cliffs. The landscape on the island is varied. In the Southwest lies an accented mountain range with its highest summit Sa Talaiassa (475 m) and in the Northeast rises the smooth Es Amunts. Between the two lies a long stretch of reddish clay ground from the bay of Sant Antoni de Portmany in the west till Cala de Sant Vicent in the northeast. The alluvium plain of Ses Salines in the south is part of a marshes area where since long ago, the islanders extract salt. The small valleys in the center of the island are filled with lemon, fig, almond and fig trees and quite some vineyards.
Formentera
The ground of Formentera is not very easy to cultivate and subject to erosion by the winds that sweep the landscape fiercely during the winter months. The absence of a natural port has prevented the development of a fishing industry. Along with a meager agriculture, the salt mines were the main economic resource on Formentera for a long time. Nowadays tourism has become a main source of income, as on the other Balearics. Because of its small size and the convenient proximity of its larger companion Ibiza, most tourists only come to Formentera for a daytrip. Thanks to this, the consequences of tourism have remained limited on the island.
