Municipality
Maria de la Salut
Photo: Malopez 21 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · cropped
Maria de la Salut is a village in the Pla de Mallorca located, according to the description from the town hall, between Santa Margalida, Muro, Llubí, Sineu, and Ariany. It is an agricultural municipality with a single settlement, characterised by a history of late and troubled independence, and with the north of the island a short journey away. For those seeking housing, it offers village houses and dry land fincas at inland prices, with the beaches of the bay of Alcúdia closer than from almost any other village in the Pla.
The municipality is flat and dry. Its history, as recounted by the town hall, explains the village quite well: during the Islamic period, the territory of Maria formed, along with Muro, Llubí, and Santa Margalida, the district of Muruh; in the repartiment of 1232, it passed, like the entire district, to Ponç Hug, Count of Empúries, and the administrative division of 1240 integrated it into the parish of Santa Margalida. In 1430, the lands were acquired by Ramon Safortesa, who added them to what he already owned in Santa Margalida.
Municipal independence was hard-won. The process was initiated in 1796 by the elected deputies Miquel Gual and Joan Torelló, and it was only authorised with the arrival of the liberal governments: between 1813 and 1836, Maria was alternately an independent municipality and reattached to Santa Margalida, until in 1836 it was definitively separated.
There is a single settlement, the village of Maria de la Salut, centred around the plaça des Pou, where the town hall is located. Within the old town, the traditional housing is the terraced house; on the outskirts, there is some detached housing with plots that are more recent. The rest of the municipality is rural, with country houses and dry land fincas.
The services are those of a small village in the Pla: the basics are covered. The town hall participates in the shared programmes and services of the Pla de Mallorca. For secondary schools, hospitals, large retail outlets, and administration, one must travel to Inca, Manacor, or Palma. There is no tourist seasonality: a permanent population all year round.
There is no coast within the municipality, but it is well positioned in relation to it: the beaches of the bay of Alcúdia, via Muro and Santa Margalida, are a short journey away. Inland, the landscape is flat, with rural paths and little traffic, ideal for cycling and walking. The cultural life is that of the village itself and its calendar of festivities.
Maria is connected by road to Santa Margalida, Sineu, Llubí, and Ariany. There is no train station: the nearest are those in Sineu and Llubí, just a few minutes by car. The bus links the municipality with Ariany and Sineu. A car is necessary for daily life.
Terraced houses in the old town, with patios and a significant part of the park pending renovation; some detached houses with plots on the outskirts; and dry land fincas with houses or small buildings in the countryside. New builds are sporadic. In rural areas, the general limitations of Mallorca apply, and, as in the rest of the Pla, there are many old buildings with unclear urban planning situations: verifying it before buying is essential, along with checking the utilities.
A small market, with little published supply at any one time and slow turnover. The demand is local and regional, with some buyers from outside looking for cheap fincas or village houses with the north coast relatively close. Prices are among the most affordable on the island. Long-term residential rentals are scarce. Tourist rentals are subject to regulations that have changed several times and are restrictive in rural areas: it is advisable to confirm them for the specific property.
It suits those looking for affordable prices inland who want to have the bay of Alcúdia at hand without paying for coastal properties, and those seeking a finca in the flatlands. It is important to consider the limited services, the absence of the sea and train, the cost of renovating old housing, the urban planning situation of rural constructions, the summer heat in the flatlands, and the limited supply.