Mallorca Access Update

We recently spent a week in Mallorca climbing across the island on various crags and here is our access experience update.

Paul Phillips taking the plunge at Cala Barques
Paul Phillips taking the plunge at Cala Barques

First the bad news…

Castell de Santueri – This is now permanently banned. The castle has been bought by someone who doesn’t allow climbing and they have said that the restriction “will never be lifted”. The parking is patrolled (on a Sunday) and the advice is to climb elsewhere.

And now the good news….

Puig de Garrafa – We climbed on all sectors except Sector Solarium which is definitely banned. There is still plenty to go at though. It was a weekend, the crag was busy and no-one encountered any problems. There is a detailed report on this crag here.

Sa Gubia – The path up the dry river bed is now well established. There are signs and the access appears to be as good as ever. It is important to park down by the bar as described and not up the approach road.

Cala Barques – Although climbing here is technically banned (see news report here) this is not policed and the area remains as popular as ever with beach-goers and climbers. We had a full day here without encountering any problems.

Port Soller – The situation here appears to be better now than it has been at any time in the last 20 years. The fencing on the approach has been removed and there is a wall of new climbs (it is actually an old wall that has had some rebolting and new routes added but it had been fenced off for years). Don’t get too excited though, the new routes are not very good.

Fraguel – This is the crag where climbers are supposed to be charged for access. The initial report (here) stated that the fee was to be €6/car and €10/person which would make it prohibitively expensive for most. We climbed here mid-week without encountering anyone. Additionally the signs on the approach only appear to mention a €6/car fee. It should be emphasised that the local climbers have requested that people don’t pay any fee to climb here, so even if it is only the affordable €6/car, it is advised that you go elsewhere if approached.

We also climbed at Santanyi, Cala Magraner, Creveta, Les Perxes and Grau des Ruc without encountering any problems.

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3 thoughts on “Mallorca Access Update

  • Much better places to climb than Mallorca. Of course, there is some good climbing to be had but on the whole, compared to most other European limestone areas I’ve visited over the past few years, it didn’t quite match up. I have not been tempted to return. DWS practitioners may have a more positive opinion.

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    • Alan James - Rockfax

      We visited Diablo on a wet day, not to climb. I certainly can’t see how anyone would stop you climbing there, but it does lie within the Manacor area hence technically climbing is banned. The situation must be like Barques only here probably even harder to police since the approach is across land which is used by everyone and the parking is on roads on the edge of the town.

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