Garden city Ciutat Jardí
The Palma city planners had great plans for Ciutat Jardí around 100 years ago. The garden city, also called Ciudad Jardín, was supposed to become a luxurious holiday resort. After all, the district in the south of the Majorcan capital lent itself perfectly to this objective, beautifully combining an idyllic beach location with proximity to the city centre. Yet nothing much came of the project. Only the Hotel Ciutat Jardí, one of the few buildings, was finally built in 1921. Today, it provides four-star accommodation.
Real Estate Mallorca – Palma
Sea or pool?
This is an eye-catching building with a style somewhere between Catalan modernism and art deco. It’s one of the oldest hotels in the whole Bay of Palma and guests are pampered with rooms positioned to give views of the Mediterranean or the Tramuntana mountains. When holiday guests feel like a refreshing swim, they have the choice of plunging into the sea just a few metres away or cooling down with an indulgent dip in the hotel’s own pool.
Shared enjoyment
There are also palm trees to provide cooling shade, should bathers feel like gently enjoying some sun – while they make themselves comfortable on the relaxing sun loungers. And there’s a pool bar at the ready to provide refreshment in a glass. Later, the piano bar in the hotel is an excellent place to welcome the evening. The hotel restaurant Bo serves plenty of fresh fish and pasta dishes and you can also share them; in fact, they mention that specifically. And it’s handy, because very often the hotter the weather, the less hungry you are – during the day at least.
Swimming strolling, beach volleyball
Right outside the door is the beautiful Playa Ciutat Jardí – a beach 450 metres long and 35 metres wide – with its inviting promenade, and it’s a meeting place for Palma residents as well as tourists. The beach is perfect for families with children, sloping gently as it does into the calm water. How about a little game of beach volleyball? It’s always a source of merriment. The waterfront is lined with beach bars, ice-cream stands and restaurants. A great spot…to relax with a coffee, a soft drink or a tipple…to sip a sundowner in the evening and perhaps treat yourself to a paella or a simple pa amb oli…to just savour the beauty of the moment.
Long beach for bathing, great fish restaurants
The gastronomy in Ciutat Jardí certainly doesn’t fall short. You have Casa Fernando, which has been an institution here for more than 40 years. The freshly caught fish and seafood is showcased in a glass display cabinet. As the customer, you can pick out whatever you please and choose some side dishes. The specialities from the sea land first on the grill and then on your plate. You have the chance to once again savour melt-in-the-mount seafood, such as sea bass, turbot, sea bream, cuttlefish, gambas from Sóller… A glass of chilled white wine along with it – and it makes for a perfect lunch or evening meal in Majorca.
If you fancy being caressed by a light sea breeze during your gourmet feast, you could head to El Bungalow. This restaurant specialises in fish and paella and has a large terrace right by the water.
A great location
With a name like garden city, the green area can’t be far away. Sure enough, there is a park surrounding the Torre d’en Pau fortification, which was once part of the Bahia de Palma defence network. This district of Palma has everything that property owners and future homeowners could wish for. Ciutat Jardí is a great location to live and to have a home, be it a villa or a chic apartment with a sea view. Everything is catered for. You have bakeries, a supermarket, petrol station, motorway access and several city bus routes that stop in Ciutat Jardí. And the cycle path or “bici carril” beside the seafront promenade leads directly into the Balearic capital. It’s only barely five kilometres away – so you can be there in no time.