The Porto Colom town is about 20 kilometers south of Porto Cristo and it extends around a long and irregular bay, which also includes very nice beaches.
The small village in Porto Colom can be virtually divided into two areas: on one part, the pier area and the modest buildings that surround it, constitute the heart of the town, the newest part; here there is nothing special, no feature that can catch your attention, but it is a very pleasant and relaxing corner.
The second area is formed by the oldest part of the village, and it is located about 300 meters west from the pier, around the rear of the small harbour; in the middle of this sort of historical centre is situated an enchanting little square, surrounded by delightful small villas painted with pastel colours.
Porto Colom originally was a fishermen village that served the nearby Felanitx town; then, for most of the XIXth century the village was based on the exportation of wine in France: this wine trade with the continent took a great prosperity but the small town forgot the own maritime origins.
The inhabitants returned to their main activities of fishermen only when the phylloxera, a tiny insect that attacks the roots of the vineyards, destroyed all the vineyards of the zone: this happened around 1870, the date that signed the end of the wealth and success period in Porto Colom.
Still today the economy of this location wheels mainly around the fishing activity: the port of the village is very characteristic and suggestive, literally crowded with old vessels still in use or with modern fishing vessels but still very particular and characteristic.
In the surrounding area of Porto Colom, in addition to a series of promontories that surround the entrance to the bay and that host an imposing lighthouse and a series of anonymous villas and hotel structures, there is also the Cala Marcal beach, about one kilometre south of the village.
However, this lido is not among the best of the zone: it is, in fact, a sunnny strip of sand which panorama is ruined by a huge hotel that bears the same name, the Cala Marcal Hotel. |
