Campanet

Campanet is located north of Inca, at the point where the Raiguer plain meets the last foothills of the Serra de Tramuntana, and it has something that almost no small municipality in Mallorca offers at once: a quiet stone village, mountains behind, a unique natural phenomenon, and visitable caves, all just a few minutes from Inca and the motorway. It has no coastline or urbanisations, and its market is that of the interior: characterful village houses and fincas with land, at prices well below those of the Tramuntana proper. It is one of the more attractive small municipalities in the north for those seeking a rural environment without sacrificing good location.

The municipality stretches from the plain to the mountains over a short distance: dry fields and almond trees below, terraced olive groves and holm oak forests on the mountainside, and torrents flowing down from it. This geography gives rise to two of its most well-known features. The first is the Coves de Campanet, a set of galleries and formations that can be visited within the municipality. The second is the Fonts Ufanes, an uncommon hydrological phenomenon: after heavy rains, water suddenly bursts from the ground in a holm oak forest and floods it for a few days, a natural spectacle declared a natural monument that cannot be scheduled. The village itself is small, made of stone with sloping streets, centred around the parish church, and retains its own local life, without tourist transformation.

Campanet is, in practice, one single settlement and its countryside, with dispersed rural habitation. The village concentrates almost all the housing and services: an old town of two or three-storey stone houses, sloping streets, and some recent 19th-century extension, with views of the plain or the mountains depending on the position. Surrounding it is the rural land with fincas, country houses, and terraced olive groves on the mountainside, and dry land plots on the flat part; this is where the product with the most land and character is found, and also the most sought after by outside buyers. There are no urbanisations or distinct residential areas. The choice here is between living within the village —with services and community— or in the countryside, with all that entails in terms of car use and autonomy.

Campanet has the services of a small village: local shops, municipal services, basic healthcare and education, and sports facilities, with a constant local life throughout the year and no tourist seasonality. For larger shopping, secondary schools, specialised healthcare, and a wider commercial offer, the reference is Inca, which is just a few minutes away and is the regional capital of Raiguer, with its own profile; after that, Palma. This proximity makes living in a village of this size comfortable: daily autonomy is limited, but what is lacking is very close by. The countryside depends entirely on the village and the car.

There is no sea in Campanet, but its natural surroundings are among the most interesting among the small municipalities in the north. The Coves de Campanet are a well-established visit, and the Fonts Ufanes are one of the most unique natural phenomena in Mallorca, located in a protected holm oak forest that can be explored on foot and is worth visiting when the water springs forth. The municipality is also the gateway to the Serra de Tramuntana on this side, with paths and terraced olive groves that are part of that dry stone landscape, and a good base for hiking. The Raiguer plain is a common area for cycling tourism. Culturally, life revolves around the village: patron saint festivals, fairs, and community activities. The beaches of the bay of Alcúdia are a short drive away.

Campanet is very well situated for a small municipality: next to the motorway that connects Palma with the north, which makes the capital, the airport, Inca, and the bay of Alcúdia easily accessible with short and comfortable journeys, and connected by local roads to Sa Pobla, Búger, Selva, and Pollença. There is no train station in the municipality, although the northern line passes nearby through Inca and Sa Pobla. Within the municipality, the village is walkable —notably, it is on a slope— but a car is necessary for work, services, the beach, and certainly for living in the countryside, with access via rural roads. Parking in the town centre is limited, as in all small stone villages.

The characteristic product is the stone village house, of two or three storeys, with a patio or terrace and often needing renovation; this is the most abundant and, in the good segments, the most valued, because stone and views are in demand here. There are also some apartments and a few more recent homes on the edges of the town centre, and single-family homes with plots on a sporadic basis. In the countryside, fincas and country houses with land, olive groves, or terraces are the products that define the higher segments of the municipality and attract buyers from Palma and abroad. New builds are very limited, and the market operates mainly in the second-hand, rehabilitation, and renovation sectors; buying here usually involves a renovation project, more demanding if the house is made of stone or is on a slope.

Campanet is a small market but with a demand more varied than its size suggests. The main residence of local and regional buyers is complemented by a clear interest from Palma and abroad in characterful stone houses and fincas with olive groves or terraces, attracted by the Tramuntana landscape and good communication at a price that the mountains themselves do not offer. It is the same argument that supports Selva, its neighbour. The published offer is modest but constant for the size of the municipality, and it is a market with low turnover: good properties appear infrequently. Long-term residential rentals are scarce, although they do not compete with seasonal rentals, making it more realistic than on the coast.

Campanet particularly suits those seeking a stone village and mountain landscape at interior prices, those wanting a characterful house to renovate, those looking for a finca with olive groves, families and permanent residents who value having Inca and the motorway nearby, and enthusiasts of hiking and cycling. It is worth considering, however, that there is no sea —the beach is a drive away—, the limited services within the municipality and the dependence on Inca, the necessity of a car, the sloping town centre, and limited parking, the condition of many of the stone houses, which often require extensive renovation and increase the project costs, the constraints of building or expanding on rural land and near protected areas, the low volume of supply, and a winter that is cooler and more humid than the coast.