© Rafa Nadal
© Rafa Nadal
A refined list of exactly who to look out for whilst on holiday in Mallorca this year
With Mallorca gaining in popularity every year, the Balearic island’s regularly frequenting A-listers continue to evolve.
With a well-established history of star-studded visitors, Mallorca has long been popular with the world’s talented, rich, and famous.
In 1838, the composer and musician, Chopin, famously spent a winter in the mountain village of Valldemossa where he is believed to have enjoyed his romantic affair with novelist, George Sand. The island’s idyllic climate and jaw dropping scenery ensures that an extensive list of A-listers, especially from film, TV and fashion, continue to return time and time again.
Another of Mallorca’s early iconic visitors, includes crime novelist Agatha Christie during the 1930s. Whilst visiting Port de Pollença, it was here that she wrote 'Problems at Pollensa Bay' whilst staying at the Hotel Illa d'Or. A little further along the coast, Hotel Formentor enjoyed glittering visits from several film stars and noteworthy figures in the period between the 1930s and the 1950s. To mention but a few, this included leading ladies Audrey Hepburn and Elizabeth Taylor; Britain’s former Prime Minister, Winston Churchill; the abdicating monarch, Edward Windsor; Sir Peter Ustinov and Charles Chaplin; as well as looking after Grace Kelly and Prince Ranier III on their 7-week Mediterranean cruise honeymoon! Pollença and Port de Pollença still offer a fair share of celeb spotting today, with actor, Tom Hiddleston and cyclist, Bradley Wiggins spotted recently in the town’s pretty cafes, enjoying their holidays in the sun.
Hot spot, Puerto Portals boasts a large number of celebs, particularly soap stars and TV presenters who seem to be choosing to holiday here. Claire Sweeney, Steve McFadden, Anthea Turner and Richard Keyes are all known to have either homes, or even better… boats here! Visitors to this glitzy marina include, Sharon Stone and Elizabeth Hurley, as well as being regularly frequented by the Spanish royal family.
The most exclusive location on the island, now fairly densely populated with homes of the world’s rich and famous, is undoubtedly Deià. On the west coast of Mallorca, this scenic town has long been popular with artists since the 1950s. Hotel La Residencia, remains a perennial favourite for many fortunate highfliers, including the late Princess Diana, Gwyneth Paltrow, Harrison Ford, Stephen Fry, Noel Gallagher, Sting, Heston Blumenthal and the list goes on… Continuing to be particularly popular with musicians and artists – Bassist Paul Simonon from the rock band ‘The Clash’, notoriously throws exceptional parties, including that of his wife's 50th birthday in August 2018. Names such as Damon Albarn, Bobby Gillespie, Bob Geldof, Kate Moss, Sadie Frost and Liv Tyler were all known to have attended.
In 2022/2023
In more recent times, Jeff Bezos chose the island of Mallorca and the Balearic water to inaugurate his new sailboat Koru. Arriving at Son Sant Joan airport in his private plane with fiancée Lauren Sánchez, a private helicopter transported him directly to auxiliary boat Abeona, anchored in front of Puerto Portals.
Oprah Winfrey and her friend Gayle King, spent a few days in Mallorca and Menorca on the 93m sailing boat EOS, owned by American tycoon Barry Diller, one of the FOX network founders.
Presenter Ellen de Generes landed in Palma, but was quickly whisked away to the 138m yacht Rising Sun, owned by the businessman David Geffen, before setting sail for Ibiza and returning to the US only the next day!
2022 saw Netflix’s Season 6 of The Crown being filmed around several parts of Mallorca with Elizabeth Debicki starring as Princess Diana. The 2023 filming of movie ‘Special Ops: Lionness’ included visits from a huge cast including Nicole Kidman, Zoe Saldaña and Morgan Freeman.
The USA's former First Lady has vacationed in Mallorca on numerous occasions, having been invited by her friend James Costos, a prior US-ambassador for Spain. He and his husband Michael Smith stated that "Mallorca is their favourite place in the world" and usually spend a good chunk of the summer on the island every year. Having been previously based in the Serra de Tramuntana mountains, Obama is spotted hiking around Esporles, visiting Port de Sóller and boarding a luxury yacht in Puerto Portals.
The current King of Spain has been officially holidaying in Mallorca since he was 5 years old, with the Spanish royal family splitting their time between two properties on the island: Almudaina Palace next to the cathedral in central Palma, and Marivent Palace located just east of the city in the beachside suburb of Cala Major. An enthusiastic sailor, King Felipe is often seen taking part in July’s Copa del Rey Regatta. Spain’s former queen, Sofía, also regularly enjoys her summer months in Mallorca alongside her sister, Irene of Greece. Like any normal family, the grandchildren enjoy sailing, attending the island’s live music concerts or simply going out for dinner on their regular visits to the island.
British business tycoon Richard Branson would often holiday at Deià’s luxury hotel (now operated and owned by Belmond), La Residencia, which he bought and transformed into a mega 5* luxury retreat. Branson’s son Sam, even named his own daughter Eva-Deia in honour of the island's picturesque mountain town. He then went on to purchase the spectacular and rural finca of Son Bunyola, near Banyalbufar, with plans to create an eco-resort for his Virgin Limited Edition brand. Denied planning permission from the council to expand the property’s principal finca, he hastily sold the project before re-buying it a second time in 2016. This luxurious retreat boasts three villas with breath-taking sea views: Son Balagueret, Sa Terra Rotja and Sa Punta de S'Aguila in addition to the 26 – bedroom 2023 transformed finca complete with private beach, tennis courts, pool and spa.
BFFs Alexa Chung and Pixie Geldof usually spend at least a couple of weeks on the island every summer with a clan of friends. They’re most commonly spotted sailing around Cala Deià, browsing the local markets, or found dining in one of Mallorca’s trendy restaurants. Pixie even got married in the gorgeous Neoclassical Son Marroig country house in 2017 with Miss Chung, Harry Styles, Daisy Law, Nick Grimshaw and her father, Bob Geldof, all as witnesses.
Spain's international tennis champion was born and raised in Manacor, Mallorca's second-biggest city, and where his parents still live today. Nadal returns to the island frequently to train at his international tennis academy and state-of-the-art sports centre, which opened in 2016. In 2019, the tennis superstar got married at the stunning Sa Fortalesa private villa, the same venue where footballer Gareth Bale tied the knot a couple of years earlier and prominently featured on the hit TV show The Night Manager. Nadal now owns a chic seafront villa in Porto Cristo.
The Danish actor reportedly owns a luxury flat in Palma's trendiest neighbourhood, Santa Catalina. The hip district offers a honey pot of innovative and creative, ever-evolving culinary haunts, the streets here are lined with contemporary restaurants serving food from all over the world. Honoured at the Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival in 2019, Mikkelsen is also regularly spotted exploring Mallorca's coastline and inland villages, including trips to Consell Market, Santa Ponça, Porto Cristo and Andratx.
Michael Douglas has been a regular visitor to Mallorca since the late 1980s when he purchased the luxury villa S'Estaca with his ex-wife Diandra Luker. Located between Valldemossa and Deià, in the heart of the Serra de Tramuntana, this luxury property has seven separate buildings in a 77-hectare estate. After putting it on the market in 2014, he was reported to have changed his mind and decided to keep it, purchasing Luker's half of the property for $15 million. Douglas and his current wife, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, are known to spend a couple of weeks in Mallorca still every summer, but with the property still available for sale… having dropped their asking price from 50 million to around 36 million Euros!!!
Shakespeare in Love's heartthrob owns not one but two properties in Mallorca. He reportedly spends most of his time onshore between his houses in Pollença and Palma alongside his wife Dolores Diéguez. Involving himself with the local community, Fiennes actively participated in supporting the continuation of Palma’s independent Renoir Cinema, which has now ultimately become CineCiutat!
Not just one, but three of ABBA's former members own houses in Mallorca. Singer Agneta Faltskog has a home in Calvià, a south-west town especially favoured by Germans and Scandinavians. Her bandmate Anni-Frid Synni Lingstad, bought a house in Port d'Andratx with ex-husband Bjorn Ulvaeus also owning a pad on the island. However, sadly not all of ABBA's Mallorca memories are happy ones – in 2008, their former drummer Ola Brunkert, was found dead in his Colonia de Sant Pere villa after a fall.
The former Eurythmics singer owns a house in the beautiful western town of Sóller where she spends a big chunk of her year. Lennox has a special talent of managing to blend in with the locals quite seamlessly, so you'll really need to keep your eyes peeled to find her out shopping with her husband in Palma. Award winning British actress Sadie Frost also recently purchased a house in Soller, now coming back and forth to the island regularly.
Not only did James Blunt celebrate his 2014 wedding in Mallorca, but he continues to visit the island frequently. The English singer-songwriter's aristocratic in-laws own a house in Campanet – Finca Massana, where he often goes to relax with his wife Sofia Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington’s granddaughter. Sofia wore a beautiful wedding dress by Mallorcan designer Rosa Esteva.
UK, Manchester born Fashion Designer Matthew Williamson having only visited the island for the first time in very recent years, now spends at least half the year here in his property on Deia’s main street but also is responsible for the bohemian and delicious, restaurant and bar – Nama.
We'll be keeping our eyes open for more news on who's in Mallorca this summer. Check out our News & Features section to stay up to date. In the meantime, why not imitate the jet-setters and book your holiday in Mallorca this summer? Maybe you'll get to rub shoulders with some of them.
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