The Road to Sa Calobra and Mallorca’s Secret Beach
The road wound, weaved and snaked below us through the grey, ragged mountain peaks. Wind howled up from the valley, rustling the green vegetation that sprouted between the rocky landscape. My fiance and I stood 2,238 feet above sea level at the start of the road known as MA-2141, leaned against a short wooden guard rail, and gazed down at the ever-winding road beneath us. The Mediterranean Sea loomed beyond the mountain peaks. My heart raced, as the wind whipped against my cheeks. Below us, we knew, lay Mallorca’s secret beach.
Sa Calobra is a small Mallorcan village located at the base of several large mountains and cliffs along Mallorca’s northern coast. The village is accessed by a single winding road through the mountains. The road is 12.2 kilometres long and includes 12 hairpin turns and a 270 degree spiral bridge right at the start of the road. The road was designed by Italian/Spanish Engineer Antonio Parietti, and was built by hand in the early 1930s. Aside from the village at the bottom, the road also leads to a “secret beach” tucked between the ragged cliffs along the Mediterranean, accessed through a set of dark, hand-carved tunnels.
I turned the key in the ignition, pressed on the clutch, and shifted into reverse. Gravel crunched under the Peugeot’s wheels. The snack, souvenir and washroom hut at the start of the road appeared in our rearview mirror. I put the car in first gear, turned left out of the parking lot, drove underneath a bridge, and started our descent down the road.
As our car rolled down the road, the first 180 degree hairpin turn approached. My foot pumped the brakes. The car hugged the corner. As soon as we cleared the first turn, hairpin after hairpin after hairpin appeared. The mountain peaks grew taller as we continued to descend beneath them. Other cars edged slowly down the road, while cyclists climbed towards the summit. After about 10 minutes of hairpin turns, the road straightened and we approached a small tunnel in the cliff walls. As our car cruised through it, the road started to gently ease through the thickening trees towards the Mediterranean Sea.
We approached a parking lot at the bottom of the road, where parking cost us around 4 euros for an hour. The village of Sa Calobra sits along the water a few hundred yards past the lot. We parked our car, grabbed our camera gear, and ambled down a gentle slope towards the village with several other tourists.
When we reached the village, we walked past the souvenir shops and restaurants, which were filled with exhausted cyclists, headed along the boardwalk that lines the sea, and followed the signs leading towards Torrent de Pareis, Mallorca’s secret beach. After a couple hundred meters, we approached a large cliff with a dark tunnel carved into the base of it. Blue LED strip lights lined the floor. We trekked through the tight tunnel along with a few other tourists for about 100 meters. A few hand carved windows poked through the tunnel, providing natural lighting and views of the royal blue sea.
Once we passed through the first tunnel, a second tunnel loomed a short distance ahead. The LED lights were burnt out on this tunnel, providing a pitch black route towards the secret beach. We turned our iPhone flashlights on and headed into the tunnel. Chips in the rock walls glistened in the flashlight’s glow. Voices from ahead echoed through the dark walls. After a short walk, sunlight poked in.
As we emerged from the tunnel, large, grey and jagged mountain peaks welcomed us. Pebbly sand covered the ground. To our left, beneath two giant cliff walls, lay a small, narrow beach leading into the dark blue water. Sunbathers rested on brightly-coloured towels. The wind howled off of the sea between the cliffs, sending saltwater spray into the air. We stopped at the end of the tunnel, and gazed out towards Sa Calobra’s secret beach.
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