Everyone Wanted This Island
Palma Old Town•Highlights Tour

Everyone Wanted This Island

1h 15m•12 stops•~1.5 miles

Eight hundred years of people arriving in Palma uninvited and immediately starting construction — and almost none of them knocked the last lot's buildings down first. A Moorish fortress the King of Spain still entertains in, a cathedral promised to God during a storm, a reasoning machine built out of spinning paper discs, a shopping street that used to be a river, and a postcard view that was dug in the nineteen eighties.

Start this tour — $9.99 Preview the route

What You'll Experience

1h 15m
Walking time
12
Audio stops
~1.5mi
Approx. route
Anytime
Self-guided schedule

Plan your walk

Know the route before you buy

Starts at
Introduction
Ends at
The Reveal
Walking plan
1h 15m · ~1.5 miles
Schedule
Start, pause, and resume anytime

Included in the app

  • Professional narration
  • GPS-triggered stops
  • Downloadable tour audio
  • Ask the Historian Q&A
  • Optional end-of-tour reveal
  • All 12 story stops

A taste of what you'll hear

12 stops, each with its own story. Here's a preview.

"Palma is a city that has been taken, over and over, by people arriving off the sea — and almost none of them bothered to knock anything down first. They moved into what was already here and changed the sign on the door."

— Introduction

"Stand where you can see the main door of Santa Eulàlia. It's one of the first churches the new rulers put up after they took this city, and one of the oldest parishes in Palma — and I want you looking at that door, because of what walked through it."

— Església de Santa Eulàlia

"Right. Time to hand back the ones that were mine. The lake in front of the cathedral was built to a depth specification — deep enough to hold the towers, shallow enough that the wind wouldn't ruin the picture. That one's mine."

— The Reveal

Tour itinerary

Every stop on this walk

Explore the route before you go. Each stop has its own story preview, location details, and place in the larger tour.

  1. 11IntroductionPalma is a city that has been taken, over and over, by people arriving off the sea — and almost none of them bothered to knock anything down...39.5661, 2.6493 Read this stop
  2. 22Parc de la MarThat's the water at Parc de la Mar, with the cathedral standing over it. This is the view. It's on the postcards, the fridge magnets, the...39.5661, 2.6493 Read this stop
  3. 33Palau Reial de l’AlmudainaThe long fortified building beside the cathedral is the Almudaina — the royal palace. Find the tallest tower and look at the very top.39.5665, 2.6459 Read this stop
  4. 44Catedral de Mallorca — La SeuLa Seu. The cathedral. Get close to the stone, because it's the colour of sand and full of shell fragments — it was quarried out of this...39.5674, 2.6479 Read this stop
  5. 55Banys ÀrabsBehind that gateway, at the end of a garden of palms and lemon trees, there's a small square room with a dome on it. That's the Banys Àrabs.39.5686, 2.6512 Read this stop
  6. 66Basílica de Sant FrancescBig square, big Baroque front, one friar standing on a plinth out here in the middle. The friar is Juníper Serra, who left this island and...39.5700, 2.6537 Read this stop
  7. 77Església de Santa EulàliaStand where you can see the main door of Santa Eulàlia. It's one of the first churches the new rulers put up after they took this city, and...39.5698, 2.6519 Read this stop
  8. 88Plaça de CortPlaça de Cort. Town hall square. And the thing in the middle of it, with the trunk that looks like it's been melted and then thought better...39.5697, 2.6501 Read this stop
  9. 99Passeig des BornThe wide shaded promenade running down toward the harbour is the Passeig des Born. Plane trees, stone benches, and the most expensive shop...39.5701, 2.6462 Read this stop
  10. 1010Sa LlotjaSa Llotja — you say it Yot-ja. Battlements along the top, an octagonal tower at each corner, enormous windows full of stone tracery, and a...39.5687, 2.6417 Read this stop
  11. 1111Es Baluard — the sea wallThat enormous sloping stone flank, with the sea on the other side of it, is the Baluard de Sant Pere. Saint Peter's bastion.39.5697, 2.6392 Read this stop
  12. 1212The RevealRight. Time to hand back the ones that were mine. The lake in front of the cathedral was built to a depth specification — deep enough to...39.5697, 2.6392 Read this stop

Stories first

Every stop is built around people, conflict, ambition, and consequences—not a plaque read aloud.

Most of it is true. The extra mischief is just a wink at the end, but the story is what carries the walk.

Have questions? Just ask.

Curious about something you heard? Want to know more about a place? Ask us anything — we have a lot to say. It's more fun when it's a conversation.

Ready?

Download the app, head to the starting point, and press play. The stories start themselves.

Get the App

Before you go

Quick answers

How much is this tour?

$9.99 as a one-time purchase in the iOS app. The Mallorca city pack is $14.99 and includes every currently available tour in the city.

Can I use it with spotty cell service?

Download the tour audio on Wi-Fi before leaving. Cached narration plays without streaming; map tiles and other online features may still need a connection.

Do I have to start at a specific time?

No. Start when it suits you, pause for a detour or meal, and resume later. Check the opening hours of any venue you personally plan to enter.

Are admission tickets included?

The purchase covers the Bad Historian audio experience. Transportation, food, and admission to third-party attractions are not included.

Other Mallorca Tours

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Palma Old Town

The Architects Who Wouldn't Leave It Alone

Gaudí was hired to fix the lighting in Palma's cathedral. He tore out the choir, hung an enormous crown of thorns over the altar as a temporary model, then quit in a temper before building the real one — and it has hung there ever since. A walk through a city that cannot leave a finished building alone: a jeweller who designed his own house, a confectioner refused a private bridge over a public street, a theatre that burned down on the night of Macbeth, and a smuggler's palace full of Rodins.

Architecture Tour•1h•10 stops
All Mallorca tours and attractions

Everyone Wanted This Island

$9.99 · one-time

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