Valldemossa

Valldemossa municipality
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Balearic Islands
Island:	Mallorca
Comarca :	Serra de Tramuntana
Coordinates	39 ° 43 ' N , 2 ° 37' E Coordinates: 39 ° 43 ' N , 2 ° 37' E
Height :	436 msnm
Area :	42.84 km²
Residents :	1,969 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	45.96 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	07170
Municipality number ( INE ):	07063
Nearest airport :	Palma ( Son Sant Joan / Palma de Mallorca , 20 km )
administration
Official language :	Catalan , Castilian
Mayor :	Nadal Torres Bujosa ( GIV )
Address of the municipal administration:	Jardí de Joan Carles I, s / n ; 07170 Valldemossa
Website :	www.valldemossa.cat
Location of the municipality
Mallorca;

Town center

Valldemossa ( Castilian Valldemosa , Catalan Valldemossa ) is a municipality with 1969 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019) on the Spanish Balearic island of Mallorca . It is located in the northwest of the island in the region ( comarca ) Serra de Tramuntana .

The proportion of foreigners in the population of Valldemossa is 14.9% (294 people), the proportion of German residents 3.6% (72 people). In addition, 6 Dutch, 3 Swiss and 1 Austrian live in the community. The main town of the same name Valldemossa is about 18 kilometers north of the capital Palma at an altitude of 420 meters and has 1476 inhabitants.

geography

Places of the community

The following places belong to the municipality of Valldemossa:

Es Nogueral (18/18 inhabitants)
Es Port (3/3 inhabitants)
S'Archiduc (66/66 inhabitants)
Son Ferrandell (131/131 inhabitants)
Son Maixella (54/54 inhabitants)
Valldemossa (1476/1705 inhabitants)

The population figures in brackets are from January 1, 2008. The first number indicates the residents of the built-up areas, the second number the residents of the towns, including the “scattered” population outside the actual settlements. (Source: INE )

History and culture

Town view from the north

The port of Valldemossa

According to tradition, the name of the place is said to derive from an Arabic wālī named Musa, who is said to have owned an estate here. It is certain that the kings of Mallorca appreciated the place because of the pleasant climate in summer. King Jaume II had a palace built here, which was expanded by his son and successor Sancho I , because he hoped to find relief from his asthma here.

The mountain village of Valldemossa became famous, however, because the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin spent the winter of 1838/39 there with the French writer George Sand . Chopin wrote large parts of his Prelude op. 28 here, including the famous Raindrop Prelude . George Sand later wrote the memory book A Winter on Mallorca with Chopin about this winter , in which she describes the landscape in a very picturesque way. During this time they lived in a former Carthusian monastery , the Charterhouse of Valldemossa from 1399. They had to break off their stay after only two months because Chopin's disease ( tuberculosis ) worsened.

Despite the short stay of the two celebrities, more than a million tourists visit the village every year, not least to view the premises where Chopin and Sand lived. The former monastery has been converted for visitors: typical Mallorcan objects and "Chopin relics" are on display.

Valldemossa is the birthplace of Catalina Thomás (cat .: Catalina Tomàs). The only saint of Mallorca is strongly venerated in Valldemossa. Throughout the village there are colorful tiles on the houses that tell legends from their lives. The painter Nils Burwitz lives in the village .

In Valldemossa there is also the Costa Nord cultural center , which was created on the initiative of the American actor Michael Douglas . It provides information about the nature of the Serra de Tramuntana , the mountains in the north-west of Mallorca, as well as about regular cultural events.

Specialties of the mountain village are a soft drink made from almonds and a kind of pastry made from potatoes.