S'Arenal

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Beach at the mouth of the Torrent des Jueus
S'Arenal in front of the Bay of Palma

S'Arenal ( Mallorcan : "The Sand Field"; Spanish El Arenal ) is a seaside resort on the Spanish Balearic island of Mallorca that is characterized by mass tourism . It is located on the south coast of the island in the immediate vicinity of the island's capital Palma on the western edge of the region ( comarca ) Migjorn .

Outline and statistics

The northern part of S'Arenal belongs to Palma, the southern, older part of the locality to the municipality of the city of Llucmajor . The boundary between two districts forms the torrent of Jueus , a non-water-bearing constantly torrent ( Torrent ) that here the Mediterranean opens. At the beginning of 2011, 16,709 inhabitants were registered in S'Arenal, 10,041 of them in the municipality of Llucmajor and 6,668 in the city of Palma. This means that 27.2% of the inhabitants of the municipality of Llucmajor and 1.6% of the inhabitants of Palma lived in S'Arenal.

Location and infrastructure

S'Arenal on the Bay of Palma

S'Arenal is located at the southeast end of the Bay of Palma ( Badia de Palma ), northeast of Cap Enderrocat , which closes the bay in the southeast. The distance to the northwestern city center of Palma is 12 kilometers, the international airport Son Sant Joan is about 5.5 kilometers half way. Arenal is among others on the highway 19 MA-accessible, which passes to the east at the site and connects with Palma Llucmajor. The village can be reached on the MA-6011 and MA-6020 roads.

The place S'Arenal at the mouth of the Torrent des Jueus is located on the sea side on the southern part of the Platja de Palma , the six kilometer long "Beach of Palma". There are several towns along this stretch of coast, some of which belong to Palma or Llucmajor. To the northwest, Palma's S'Arenal district borders the Les Meravelles district on the Camino de las Maravillas . Between Les Meravelles and the actual S'Arenal, south of the Camí de Ca Na Gabriela, there is still Ses Cadenes , today a part of S'Arenal, where the lido known as Ballermann 6 by German-speaking tourists is located. Southwest of the street Via de Fra Juníper Serra from S'Arenal de Llucmajor, behind the Travessia Colom , begins Son Verí Nou , which belongs to Llucmajor . Since the development is almost completely dense, the individual villages are often simply referred to as "Arenal" by many tourists and locals . The transition from Palma to Llucmajor is not recognizable in the village itself, as the tourist activities and services are the same. The difference, however, is that the buildings in S'Arenal de Llucmajor are taller than those in the Palma area.

history

View over S'Arenal to Palma

Arenal was originally a small shelter and anchorage for fishermen near a quarry from which the Son Verí port, southwest of the settlement, developed. Some fishermen and quarry workers settled there. The place was first mentioned in 1887 and had 21 inhabitants. In 1910 there were 37 residents.

With the construction of the railway line from Llucmajor to Palma from 1914, the population grew. A residential colony of line workers and quarry workers from the surrounding railway construction quarries and the sandstone factories of Llucmajor was formed on the site. At the beginning of the 1930s, 379 residents were registered there. During this time the settlement was called Es Republicans , as the inhabitants were mostly workers and supporters of the republic . Their leader and local executive was the Freemason and communist Mateo Martí ( PCE ; 1890-1936), who called himself Ateo Martí ("the atheist Martí") and was considered a champion of the anti-clerical and secular left against the power of the Catholic Church . He was murdered by right-wing pistoleros in early August 1936 as one of the first victims of the Spanish Civil War on the island .

The name El Arenal only came into use again in the early 1950s, when the first tourist buildings were built on the beach. In 1960, 1162 residents were recorded, who now also settled in a smaller part in the area belonging to the city of Palma de Mallorca, to which the place expanded.

The increase in tourism is also evident in the increase in the population. In 1981, 9,106 people lived in the village (5,118 of them in the Llucmajor area); In 1991 there were 10,649 inhabitants (6,264 of them in Llucmajor). A large part of this population was young (37% under 20 years of age) and worked in the service sector, 45% were new immigrants from mainland Spain. They lived in the new development areas of Son Verí Nou and in a residential area around the sports harbor, which is now the Yacht Club.

Arenal's past as a fishing village can only be seen in the old town center. Since the 1960s, increasing mass tourism has led to the building that is visible today, which is still in constant change.

Number of inhabitants
(source: INE + historical data )
year 1887 1910 1930 1960 1981 1991 2011
Residents 21st 37 379 1,162 9.106 10,649 16,709

Economy and tourism

Mini train in S'Arenal

The economy of S'Arenal is almost entirely based on tourism and the location of the place on the Platja de Palma . Here are three (nos. 1-3) of the total of fifteen balnearios (translated as "bathing establishments") on the beach, which are sections of the beach with bars about 200 to 300 meters apart. The waterfront was redesigned at the end of the 20th century by building a waterfront promenade, planting palm trees and restricting car traffic.

Most of the hotels were built between 1960 and 1968. In total, the 70 or so hotels in S'Arenal with the 65 or so hotels in the neighboring towns on Platja de Palma form the basis for mass tourism, a destination especially for German holidaymakers. On the eastern edge of the part of S'Arenal belonging to Llucmajor on Carrer de Cala Blava , the "Aqualand" is an adventure pool . It is the largest water park in Mallorca.

Worth seeing

  • Old town center of S'Arenal with typical houses from the 18th and 19th centuries.
  • Modern marina of S'Arenal with 630  berths and the yacht club CNA (Club Náutic Arenal) . As one of the well-known facilities for sailing on the Balearic island, the port is located south of Platja de Palma on Carrer de los Roses .
  • Small bays that are suitable for swimming are located away from mass tourism along the rocky coast towards Llucmajor, such as: Caló de Sant Antoni , sa Roca des Turista , es Calonet d'es Fornàs and Rentador de sa Senyora .

Picture gallery

  • S'Arenal beach

  • The Platja de Palma in S'Arenal

Web links

Commons : S'Arenal  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. katal. arenal in the Diccionari de la llengua catalana of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans .
  2. ↑ Population statistics for S'Arenal by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE): municipality of Llucmajor & municipality of Palma . Retrieved December 18, 2012 (English / Spanish).
  3. ↑ Population of the municipalities and districts of the Balearic Islands
  4. ↑ Toponímia Oficial de les Illes Balears. slg.uib.cat, March 12, 2012, accessed March 5, 2014 (Catalan, PDF file).
  5. ^ Sector: Litoral de Llevant. Zona estadística: 082 - L'Arenal. (PDF; 60.9 KB) In: observatoripalma.org. Archived from the original on October 6, 2013 ; Retrieved April 25, 2019 (Catalan, see Section 1: Mapa del barri ).
  6. ↑ a b c s'Arenal. In: Gran enciclopèdia catalana , accessed July 15, 2020 (Catalan).
  7. ↑ Antoni Janer Torrens: Ateu Marti la veu silenciada de l'anticlericalisme illenc. Ara , March 24, 2019, accessed July 15, 2020 (Catalan).
  8. ↑ Thomas Schröder: Mallorca , Michael Müller Verlag 2006, p. 96
  9. ↑ Thomas Schröder: Mallorca , Michael Müller Verlag 2006, p. 98
  10. ^ Club Nautic Arenal
  11. ↑ Calas y playas. In: visitllucmajor.org. Archived from the original on April 1, 2008 ; accessed on March 28, 2018 (Spanish).

Coordinates: 39 ° 30 '  N , 2 ° 45'  E