Route: Siller to Cala Sant Vicenç via the Siller Pass
Area: Spain, Mallorca
Date of walk: 27th April 2019
Walkers: Andrew and Gilly
Distance: 5.3 miles (there and back)
Ascent: 600 feet
Weather: Sunshine and blue skies, warm
Today’s walk wasn’t the one we’d planned. Earlier in the morning we drove along Cap de Formentor, a difficult drive at the best of times, but made even harder by the presence of many hundreds of cyclists. Mallorca has become a Mecca for the sport in recent years – 8,000 of them (including our son James) were taking part today in the challenging Mallorca 312. Thousands more have descended on the island, and they seem to be everywhere. By the time we finally arrived at the small parking space to start our walk it was full and, with no alternative spaces nearby, we had to come up with a Plan B
We decided to leave the narrow and overcrowded peninsula, and drove back along it to Siller, on the outskirts of Port de Pollença. We parked on a residential street and after a short stroll left it to follow a track through open countryside towards the Siller Pass. The track turned into a narrow rocky path but there were no difficulties, and before long we arrived at the head of the pass, with good views back over Port de Pollença
We descended from the pass down a deserted road to the small town of Cala Sant Vicenç. The town is set in a bay surrounded by azure seas, with views out to some spectacular rock formations. It’s a shame that a modern hotel dominates much of the bay, a serious lack of judgement by the planners
We could have taken a taxi back to the start, but we’d enjoyed the simple walk and decided to double the pleasure by retracing our steps back to the start
Postscript: next day we returned to Cap de Formentor to carry out Plan A, and we were glad to have persevered, as it was a classic walk – click here to see why
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Dawn from our room in the Hotel Forum - we left early today as we wanted to see our son James cycling through the town. He's competing in the Mallorca 312, a gruelling all day ride of 197 miles with a total ascent of over 15,000 feet
We walk through the streets of the old town
We arrived in time to see the first of the riders (8,000 in all), but doubted whether we'd see James amid such a throng...
...we did, too late to take a decent photo, but here it is for the record (he finished 12 hours later - good lad)
We walk back through the pedestrianised streets of Alcúdia
Later that day, the start of the walk from Siller. We parked on Carrer de les Roses. It's more traditional to start in nearby Port de Pollensa, but we'd wasted much of the day in our abortive trip to Cap de Formentor mentioned in the introduction
We leave the outskirts of Siller
Looking across to the Boquer Valley between the jagged mountains
We follow this track, and our route will take us over the depression on the left
The track ends and turns into a rough path - we turn right at a fork
Looking back to Port de Pollensa and the Bay of Pollensa
Alcúdia on the far side of the bay, and Talaia d'Alcúdia, which we'd climbed yesterday
Serra de la Punta on our left as we continue up the pass
A last look back as we reach the top of the pass, Coll de Siller
A flat section, and the sea on the other side of the pass comes into view
The path widens into a track as we start the descent from the col
We follow the sign for Cala Carbó...
We follow the track to our destination, Cala Sant Vicenç
Cala Sant Vicenç comes into view, as do a couple of ugly hotels which mar the appearance of this beautiful spot
The deserted stony beach of Cala Carbó...
We continue along the track to Cala Sant Vicenç
Looking along the rugged coastline
Our destination, Cala Sant Vicenç - we could have caught a taxi back to the start, but decided to retrace our steps
After arriving back in Siller, we visited neighbouring Port de Pollensa for a quick stroll around the harbour area...
