4 Best Sights in Mallorca, Ibiza and the Balearic Islands

Along Carrer Colom is the 17th-century ayuntamiento (town hall). Stop in to see the collection of gigantes, the vast painted and costumed mannequins paraded through the streets during festivals, displayed in the lobby. The olive tree on the right side of the square is one of Mallorca's so-called olivos militaries—purported to be more than 1,000 years old. The adjacent building is the Palau del Consell, the headquarters of the island's government, a late-19th-century building on the site of a medieval prison. The Palau (palace) has its collection of gigantes and an impressive stained-glass window over the ornate stone staircase; visits inside can be arranged by appointment ( [email protected]).

A few steps from the north archway of the Plaça Major is the Museu Fundación Juan March. This delicate little museum was established to display a private collection of modern Spanish art. The building itself was a sumptuous private home built in the 18th century. The second and third floors were redesigned to accommodate a series of small galleries, with one or two works at most—by Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Juan Gris, Salvador Dalí, Antoni Tàpies, and Miquel Barceló, among others—on each wall.

Carrer de la Cadena leads to this imposing Gothic church, where, in 1435, 200 Jews were forced to convert to Christianity after their rabbis were threatened with being burned at the stake.

Maintained by the Fundació Tren de l'Art, these galleries have two small but remarkable collections—one of engravings by Miró, whose grandfather was born in Sóller, and the other of ceramics by Picasso.