Manacor

Manacor is the second largest town in Mallorca and the capital of the east of the island. Unlike the municipalities more given over to tourism, it is above all a town of work, industry and a life of its own, with a long tradition in furniture making and in artificial pearls. To its urban centre is added a broad coastal frontage around Porto Cristo and several coves, which makes Manacor a municipality with two faces —urban and inland on one side, seafaring and touristic on the other— with a varied residential supply and, in general, more affordable than that of other points on the island.

Manacor town has the character of a district capital: shops, industry, services and a daily life that does not depend on tourism. It is known for its wooden furniture and for Majorica pearls, and also for being the birthplace of Rafael Nadal, whose tennis academy has become an international landmark. Its weekly market is one of the busiest on the island. Against this urban, working Manacor, the coast offers a completely different register, more touristic and residential, which gives the municipality an unusual double personality.

The municipality is organised around the town and a series of coastal settlements. Manacor town is the great residential and services centre, with life all year round and contained prices. Porto Cristo is the main coastal settlement, a seafaring village with a harbour, a beach and a life of its own outside the season too. Around it, s'Illot, Cala Anguila, Cala Mendia, Porto Cristo Novo and Cales de Mallorca offer a strip of apartments, houses and villas of a markedly residential and holiday character. The interior also contributes country estates and rural houses.

Manacor is, by size and function, one of the best-equipped towns on the island outside Palma: it has shops of every kind, a district hospital, schools, a weekly market and an intense local life all year round. This makes it especially comfortable as a main home, since it does not depend on the tourist season. Porto Cristo also keeps services and a life of its own outside the summer, while the smaller coastal settlements are more seasonal. It is a municipality well suited to families and to those looking for the convenience of a town with full services at more reasonable prices.

The east offers some of Mallorca's best-known attractions. In Porto Cristo are the Coves del Drac, with one of the largest underground lakes in Europe, and the nearby Coves dels Hams. The coast alternates beaches and coves of great beauty, much appreciated by families, and the harbour of Porto Cristo brings seafaring and boating life. In the town, culture revolves around its heritage, its industrial tradition and spaces such as the museum devoted to Rafael Nadal. It is a municipality that combines inland and coast, with a varied leisure offer and less crowded than other points on the island.

Manacor is well connected with Palma by road and, notably, by train, since it is the end of the line of Mallorca's rail network, which makes it very accessible to the capital without a car. Within the municipality, on the other hand, a car is advisable for moving between the town and the coastal settlements, which lie some distance away. Public transport connects the town with the coast and with neighbouring municipalities, with greater frequency on the main routes.

The supply is broad and generally more affordable than in other areas. In the town, village houses, flats and renovated homes predominate; in Porto Cristo and the coastal settlements, apartments, terraced homes, houses and villas near the sea; and inland, country estates and rural houses with land. This variety, combined with more contained prices, makes Manacor an interesting option both for a first home and for a second home, with product for very different profiles and budgets.

The Manacor market stands out for its diversity and for prices generally more affordable than those of the north coast or the south-west. The town concentrates above all main-home demand, while the coastal strip attracts second homes and international buyers, with higher prices the closer to the sea. Long-term residential rental supply is more available in the town than on the coast, where holiday and seasonal use weighs more. It is one of the markets with the best balance of services, size and price on the island.

Manacor suits especially those looking for a town with full services and life all year round, for a first home at more reasonable prices, and also those who want coast and coves along its seafaring strip. It is a good option for families, for permanent residents and for a second home in Porto Cristo and its surroundings. Worth weighing up: the town is industrial and service-based, without the scenic appeal of other municipalities; the coast lies some distance from the urban centre; and the town and beach atmospheres are very different from each other. It is, above all, a practical and well-balanced municipality.