EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

In 1983 PALMA became the capital of one of Spain's newly established autonomous regions, the Balearic Islands, and since then it's shed the dusty provincialism of yesteryear, developing into a go-ahead and cosmopolitan commercial hub of 325,000 people. The new self-confidence is plain to see in the city centre, a vibrant and urbane place which is akin to the big cities of the Spanish mainland - and a world away from the heaving tourist enclaves of the surrounding bay. There's still a long way to go - much of suburban Palma remains obdurately dull and somewhat dilapidated - but the centre now presents a splendid ensemble of lively shopping areas, mazy lanes and refurbished old buildings, all enclosed by what remains of the old city walls and their replacement boulevards. This geography encourages downtown Palma to look into itself and away from the sea, even though its harbour - now quarantined by the main highway - has always been the city's economic lifeline. Indeed, arriving here by sea, Palma is still beautiful and impressive, with the grand bulk of the cathedral towering above the old town and the remnants of the medieval walls. In these are encapsulated much of the city's and island's history: Moorish control from the ninth to the thirteenth century, reconquest by Jaume I of Aragón and a meteoric rise to wealth and prominence in the fifteenth century as the main port of call between Europe and Africa.