As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

Hi Guys
We are looking at coming over in April, and are thinking of having a week each in two different areas of the Island to have a good round.
You have mentioned how nice the east coast is, so we are palnning a week there.
We were told though at the "A Place In The Sun" live expo in Birmingham that a lot of the east coast closes up for winter.
Just wondering if you can recommend an area on the east coast that has enough of a local community that it does not close up, with most of their restaurants etc still open in April.
Once again, thanks in advance for your advice.

Joner

Again, anywhere that has a local resident population does not "close up" in winter - that applies to most of the towns in the east. Everything catering to the local population naturally, stays completely open year round. In fact, the smaller local shops tend to close more in summer, to take a vacation or just because it gets too hot. But there's plenty of major supermarkets and DIY and whatever else you need that don't even close for siesta.

The tourist facilities in the smaller resorts do tend to close up in winter, but as a resident, those wouldn't have any affect on your life (except that life gets a little bit better when the tourists leave).

Anything that does close for winter normally re-opens by end of March.

I'd recommend Cala Millor (a good sized resident population, but very pleasant and sane, family-oriented) it's massive white-sand beach, many bars, restaurants and shopping promenade, or even better, Cala Bona, which is a quaint harbour village at the north end of the Cala Millor promenade, offering quaint seaside hotels and seafront restaurants, but only a pleasant walk down the promenade to the big beach and activity at Cala Millor.

But if you're coming as a tourist, then depending on your tickboxes, I'd also recommend either the northwest (Soller, Port de Pollenca, Alcudia) which offers beautiful scenery and lovely beaches, sane dining and nightlife, or the southwest (Magalluf, Palmanova, Porto Portals, etc) where you'll find party-city, brimming with beach nightlife and big nightclubs, plenty of bean-and-egg-and-beer places catering to British tastes.

Perhaps a little of both would provide a good taste of the extreme diversity of this island.

By the way, if you're looking for good value for accomodations, try 9Flats.com - they have some of the best values on private accomodations on the island that I've seen. Just enter "mallorca" as a search term to get a full list.

Good luck with it all. Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions.

-Ami

If I had a choice between Cala Millor and Cala Bona, I personally would choose Cala Bona. I find the quiet style relaxing and as Ami said it's very close to all the action you could want, in Cala Millor. I was in Cala Bona yesterday so I took some photos for you.

If you look on Google Maps, you can see how close both resorts are to the nearest residential town of Son Servera. Although maybe not full of night life it's open all year round. Porto Cristo is the next largest town and then Manacor. Both Cala Millor and Cala Bona have local businesses that are open in the winter months, it's mainly the tourist businesses that close and the bars / restaurants that cater for them.

Some of the tourist business are starting to open and a few hotels also. As Ami said, by easter many will be open.

All the best

Hi Ami & Abyss-Rover
Thanks again for your very helpful information.

Regards
Ian

Hi Ian

Hi, we too are in the early stages of relocating to Mallorca and I thought we could probably bat our research to and from each other if you are interested.

Our children are six and ten (girl and boy).

I am making a short visit to Mallorca in early July this year and then going back later in July with the whole family to do a proper reckie for a longer amount of time.

I was just interested in your feedback after your reckie and if you had any advice on locations.

We are thinking of renting our property here and renting over there (so we have an income from our rental in the UK) until we find a place we want to buy.

If there is anything you can advise me to check on when I go for the initial reckie in early July I would be v grateful.

gleni