Serra de Tramuntana

The Serra de Tramuntana ( Castilian: Sierra de Tramontana ) is a mountain range in the north-west Mallorca. The same name referred to one of the six landscape regions ( comarques ) of Mallorca, which is named after the mountain range, but slightly extends beyond the area of ​​the rock. In 2008, the population of the Serra de Tramuntana region amounted to 109 870 inhabitants reported. On 27 June 2011, UNESCO the Serra de Tramuntana, declared a World Heritage Site.

Geography

The mountains of the Serra de Tramuntana cover an area of 1,067 km ² and extend to a length of over 90 kilometers. They are the habitat of around 20,000 inhabitants, of whom about half live in Sóller. The main mountain range occupies the entire western and north-western part of Mallorca. The Serra de Tramuntana increases the Puig Major, the highest elevation of Mallorca, up until 1445 meters. Below the Puig Major, the two drinking water reservoirs Cuber Lake and Embassament the Gorg Blau, which dissipate their excess water via the Torrent des Gorg Blau in the canyon Torrent de Pareis.

The mountain is well served by roads and many trails. It's so far remained largely untouched by mass tourism and ideal for walking and cycling. The Serra de Tramuntana offers the often spectacularly beautiful, wild landscape that is covered or long stretches of virgin vegetation and by their largely intact, unspoilt nature.

Communities in the region

State of the population figures on 1 January 2008

Flora and Fauna

Among the fauna of the area stands out, inter alia, the first discovered in 1979 as a live - Fund Mallorca midwife toad ( Alytes muletensis ), the endemic there is only here. As a curiosity, a two-headed copy of the harmless snake hood 2003 was far from Valldemossa found. The animal was in the media as Hydra of Mallorca called ( an allusion to the nine-headed, snake-like Hydra of Greek mythology). The rare snake is on display in the reptile house in the south of the island ( motorway Palma - Manacor).

Geology

More than 300 million years ago, towards the end of the Paleozoic that part of the earth's crust was known today as Spain, close to the collision of the Urkontinente Laurentia (present-day North America ), Europe and Gondwana (including Africa) involved. This collision caused a massive mountain complex was folded across the super continent Pangaea as incurred. Products of erosion of this mountain deposited in the Permian and the Triassic can be found today in the Serra de Tramuntana in the form of red sand - and mudstones. The majority of the Serra de Tramuntana and the Serres de Llevant in the Southeast and towering hills complexes of the central zone of Mallorca consist of Mesozoic limestone, which was mainly deposited 180 million years ago in a shallow sea in the Jura. The surface of the entire island, including the Tertiary and Quaternary deposits of the present-day central level, there is up to 90 percent of limestone.

After the Superkontionent Pangaea broke up and its parts drifted apart initially, to Africa and Europe, including the present-day Spain moving again to another. Was the crust, which today forms the island of Majorca to compressed about 50 % of their original extent by the collision of Spain with Africa during the Tertiary before about 20 million years ago. The deposits of the Jura were literally torn to pieces and pushed over one another several times. In the further course of the Tertiary large sections of the central part of the island sank down, which, in principle, the current three- division of the island, Serra de Tramuntana in the northwest, central plain and Serres de Llevant to the southeast, took shape. As the sea level at this time was much higher than today, the central level was completely flooded by the sea. Therefore, the rocks of the Triassic, the Jurassic and the Cretaceous there were overlaid by deposits of late Tertiary. Due to heavy rainfall huge amounts of debris from the Serra were transported to the plains in the Quaternary. Existing cracks and canyons were further deepened. The carbon dioxide present in the rain water and so also in the bottom water dissolved large amounts of lime, which led to karstification of the mountainous and hilly regions of the island. The prominent location, the great Klüftigkeit, purity and thickness of the limestone increased the Verkarstungsfähigkeit. The karst phenomena manifest themselves in the form of various caves, especially in the area of Serres de Llevant, in the form of fertile, padded by recent river sediments collapse sinks ( so-called poljes ) ​​in the Serra de Tramuntana and in the form of bizarre, but locally limited carts landscapes.

It is a special feature of this coastal mountains that at altitudes above 600 meters suddenly, albeit limited arable area with scattered settlements emerges while in the deeper layers Feldbauterrassen with orange and almond trees and olive groves are available only in few valleys. The karst mountains of the North has had here a bizarre world of forms arise, which recalls in its sharp-edged limestone fields and the pointed Karrengraten that have always up in the finest structured solution grooves on small forms from the tropical karst. The individual carts are several meters high and run conically upwards. They stand close together and reveal the individual limestone beds from which they have been worked out. Particularly impressive are such forms near the road that crosses the mountains of Inca at the mountain foot to the coast near Sa Calobra, so also near the famous Santuario de Lluc. Similar shapes show up at the limestone rock directly on the rocky coast of the Bay of Sa Calobra.

Attractions

  • Museu de Lluc with finds from the caves in the area Escorca ( prehistoria ), ceramics, drawings, paintings etc.
  • Sanctuary of Lluc
  • Torrent de Pareis
  • Sa Calobra
  • Cala Tuent

Hiking

In this area, numerous mountain walks. The most GR 221 located mountain hut ( refugi ) Tossals Verds, owned by the Consell de Mallorca is intended to facilitate the walking practice in all modalities and to promote the educational and research activities of the mountain. The cottage, 540 meters high located in the heart of the Serra de Tramuntana, is anyone for a small fee is available. It is an ideal starting point to explore the snow houses of the Tramuntana Mountains in the Massanella.

Snow houses

→ Main article: Snow Houses on Mallorca

In the days before electric refrigeration and freezing equipment of snow was in the winter months on the high mountains collected and stored in specially certain houses and compacted into ice; Insulating materials such as straw prevented the premature defrosting. In the warm seasons the ice was sold in the deeper places. Many of these former snow houses are in various stages of decay, in the higher elevations of the Serra de Tramuntana.

Beaches and coves of the Serra de Tramuntana region

Municipality of Calvià

  • Cala Brogit
  • Platja d' Illetes
  • Cala Comtesa
  • Cala Portals Nous
  • Oratory of portal
  • Son Caliu
  • It Carregador (Palma Nova )
  • Cala Blanca
  • Son Maties
  • Magaluf
  • Cala Vinas
  • Cala Falco
  • Calo de sa Nostra Dama
  • Ca l' Aixada ( Casino de Mallorca)
  • Cala Portals Vells
  • Cala Figuera (Calvià )
  • Cala Refaubetx
  • El Toro ( Raco de sa Fragata )
  • Cala de Penyes Roges
  • Cala en Guixar
  • Calo d'en Pellicer
  • Cala de Santa Ponsa
  • Cala Blanca
  • Peguera Romana ( Platja des Morts )
  • Peguera Torà
  • Peguera Palmira
  • Cala Fornells
  • Cala d'en Monjo

Municipality of Andratx

  • Platja de Camp de Mar ( Cala Blanca)
  • Cala Llamp
  • Cala Marmassem
  • It Port d'Andratx
  • Cala Moragues
  • Cala d' Egos
  • Cala d'en Tió
  • Cala Conills
  • Platja de Sant Elm
  • Cala Lladó
  • Cala en Basset
  • Cala de ses Ortigues

Community Estellencs

  • Platja Can Pruaga
  • Cala Cas Xeremier
  • Cala d' Estellencs

Community Banyalbufar

  • Cala de Banaylbufar
  • There Corral Fals
  • Platja de Son Bunyola
  • Es Port des Canonge

Community Valldemossa

  • Cala de Valldemossa ( Port de Valldemossa )

Community Deia

  • It Cucó na Foradada
  • Cala Deia
  • It Canyaret

Sóller

  • Platja des Gall
  • Badia de Sóller
  • Ses Cambres

Community Fornalutx

  • Cala Ferrera ( Port de Fornalutx )

Community Escorca

  • Raco de sa Taleca
  • Cala Tuent
  • Cala de ses Fel.les
  • Cala of the Capellan
  • Cala Codolar

Municipality of Pollença

  • Cala set Eric
  • Cala Castell
  • Cala Estremer
  • Cala Sant Vincenç
  • Cala Bóquer
  • Cala Figuera
  • Cala en Gossalba
  • Cala Murta
  • Cala en Feliu
  • Cala Pi de la Posada ( Cala Formentor )
  • El Calo
  • Platja d' Albercutx
  • Platja de Llenaire
  • Platja de Can Cullerassa

Literature Note

  • Pedro Servera: 'History Mallorca, Emergence, Historia. Palma de Mallorca 2001, ( in numerous publications )
  • The Spanish Kartenverlag " Alpina " published in April 2005 and June 2006, trail maps ( 1:25,000 ) of Mallorca. The cards are of high quality. There are three cards: " Tramuntana Sud" ( Andratx to Esporles ), " Tramuntana Central" ( Valldemossa, Deia, Soller, Bunyola, Alaro, reservoirs) and " Tramuntana Nord" ( Fornalutx, reservoirs, Sa Calobra, Lluc, Pollenca, Campanet ).
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