Palma, City of Galleries: A Walk Through the Old Town's Contemporary Art Scene

Some travellers come to Mallorca for its coves and end up discovering that, in the heart of its capital, the island hides one of the liveliest contemporary art scenes in the Mediterranean. Palma doesn't shout about it. It does things its own way: behind stone gateways, inside medieval chapels and in stately courtyards where the light falls like a painting.

For the traveller who prefers the city to the beach, touring the old town's galleries is the kind of plan that blends culture, strolling and discovery — no car required. And from the Calatrava quarter, home to Es Princep, almost all of them are within walking distance.

The Gallery Street

If Palma had a street devoted to art, it would be Sant Feliu. Within just a few metres you'll find spaces that have turned the city into a reference point for collectors and the curious alike. Here, the Gerhardt Braun gallery uses every corner of an old townhouse to show painting, photography and conceptual work; a few steps away, Germany's Kewenig exhibits inside the Oratori de Sant Feliu, a 13th-century chapel where contemporary art converses with centuries-old stone. Few places sum up Palma better: the new living alongside the very old.

Palaces Turned Into Art

A few minutes away, on the pedestrian Can Verí street, the Pelaires gallery has been setting the pace of Spanish contemporary art since 1969. It opened in the era of Miró and remains an essential stop, both for its exhibitions and for the historic palace that houses it. Not far off, Horrach Moyà champions the most conceptual work from its minimalist spaces, while ABA Art Lab, facing the Es Baluard museum, fills its light-flooded rooms with projects conceived for each show. And to discover the island's emerging talent, the Galería Reus — open since 2003 — has established itself as one of the key spaces of Mallorca's new scene.

And presiding over them all, like the scene's great beacon, the Es Baluard museum looks out over the bay from the old Renaissance walls. Its collection and temporary exhibitions are the best place to begin — or end — any attempt to understand the art being made on the island.

Art Palma Summer: The Night the City Becomes a Museum

If there's one moment to experience all of this at once, it's Art Palma Summer. In early June (this year, on the 4th), more than twenty galleries and spaces across the centre open their doors at the same time for one evening, with close to fifty exhibitions and around a hundred artists. The old town's streets fill with people drifting from room to room, glass in hand, as the sun goes down. 

A Route for an Afternoon

One good way to do it: start at Es Baluard to get your bearings, head down towards Sant Feliu and its galleries, continue to Can Verí and Pelaires, and round off the afternoon on an old-town terrace, watching the golden light settle over the rooftops. From Es Princep, in the heart of Calatrava, the whole route is walkable.

Because that, in the end, is what sets Palma apart: a city where art isn't locked inside a single building but scattered across alleyways, palaces and chapels, waiting for anyone who cares to look.