Walk in Alcudia: a coastal walk to Aucanada

Alcudia has some fantastic walks, and this walk is a great opportunity to discover the coastal area close to Aucanada area, an extremely beautiful area with great views and small beaches. We hope you enjoy it.

The former Muslim farmstead of Alcanada, is today known as a summer holiday spot, a beach and an island with a lighthouse.  Alcanada, pronounced as ‘Aucanada’ in Catalan, gave its name to the seaside area stretching from the Port d’Alcudia to the Cap de Menorca.

A coastal walk to Aucanada in Alcudia – USEFUL INFORMATION:

Duration of the walk? The walk takes about 2 hours walking at a normal pace and stopping to take photos. This time will increase if you make swimming stops or if you stop at any place to have a drink.

Length of the walk? The walk is 9km long, and it is a flat walk, suitable for all ages and also with kids. It is not a circular walk.

Where does the walk start? The walk starts at the Port of Alcudia, by the Estación Maritima.

What time of the year? You can do the walk at any time of the year. If you do it in summer, plan it as a full day walk as you can do many swimming stops.

What to bring? Bring water, and in summer a towel and swim things.

A coastal walk to Aucanada in Alcudia – MAP:

Below you can see the route of the walk created with the app mywalk

A coastal walk to Aucanada in Alcudia – THE ROUTE:

We will start our walk by the Estacion Maritima in Port de Alcudia, as it is easy to get there and easy to find, and from here we take the street Gabriel Roca (see photo below).

At the end of the road, we will find some steps and then on our right the entrance to Alcudia’s Port. We will go to the left, after 20 meters we find a roundabout a we will take the first exit, way up to Aucanada.

While we walk up, we can see on the right hand side the old electricity factory that operated until the 60’s. There is a project to build here a museum, but so far is just a project.

The Central Térmica Alcúdia (the old Alcúdia Power Station) near the port of Alcúdia was Mallorca’s main power station from the Sixties to the late Nineties when it was replaced by another plant, called Es Murterar, also in the area of Alcúdia, near the lagoon. The old Alcúdia Power Station was built under Franco in 1957. Electrical energy was produced by way of coal firing, hence its position near the coast. Coal was transported from the Spanish mainland to the Port d’Alcúdia by ship, and still is. The new Es Murterarpower plant is also fed with coal.

https://mallorcaphotoblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/central-termico-01-2012.jpg

Currently, there are four thermal power plants on Mallorca, Es Murterar, Son Reus, Cas Tresorer and Son Molinos. Since last year, there is also a connection to the mainland by under-water cable.

Nowadays, the old Alcúdia Power Station is a bit of an eye-sore, especially as it is situated in a rather popular tourist area. A few years ago, a competition was held, designs were drawn up and a winning entry was selected. Plans were approved to convert this power plant into an industrial museum. Of course, there is no money available now for any such fancy plans.

Today the power station and its surroundings are abandoned, though its two tall chimneys continue to rise above the bay and have become a common reference to the landscape of the island.

• Info from: https://mallorcaphotoblog.com/2012/07/31/the-old-alcudia-power-station/
• More info on the museum project: http://sp.archello.com/en/project/power-station-alcudia

The future project source: https://mallorcaphotoblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/central-termico-04-2012.jpg

Just before to reach the top of the road, take the road on your right hand side, and after  a few meters in front of you, you can find a deffensive tower, the Torre Major.

To fend off the pirate attacks, the mathematician and priest Joan Binimelis (1538-1616) devised a system of watchtowers along the Balearic coast with a code of signals that warned about the approach of pirate ships. The guards would light fires on the terraces of the towers, using smoke signals by day and fires by night, or even cannon shots, to warn the local population to prepare their defense.

The Torre Major marks the beginning of Alcanada. The name of the tower dates back to the times when the bay of Alcúdia was known as Port Major. The entrance is crowned with the coat of arms of King Philip III of Spain, carved in 1602 by the sculptor Antoni Verger.

Stretching from the Torre Major to the Penya Roja watchtower, almost nine kilometers of steep, barren coastline had to be watched and defended for hundreds of years–particularly beginning in the 16th century, when the Balearics were attacked by Berbers and pirates who plundered towns and houses and captured their inhabitants for ransom. The captives could spend years on end in North African lands, until they were eventually exchanged, sold, or their ransom was paid, sometimes collected from alms.

We then continue the road, and after 50 meters, notice on your right some steps going down to the beach, take them, and then you will join a path that runs parallel to the coast, this is the path we will be taking now ( see photo above).

During this part of the walk, we will enjoy beautiful views of the Bay of Alcudia, and this part of Aucanada coast. This area has the name of Ses Pedreres, a coastline with several enabled swimming areas, some of sand but most of them of concrete or rock.

Later on we will reach the small beach of Cala Poncet, a lovely place where to stop for a swim in Summer or a refreshing drink at the bar situated by the beach.

We then go slightly up, and we join the main road that we will be taking to the Aucanada beach, passing a nice picnic area on our right hand side.

At the end of the road, we will take the pavemented path and right at the end, we will be rewarded with the view of the Aucanada lighthouse.

In the mid-19th century, the lighthouse was built. For one hundred years, the lighthouse keepers–sometimes with their families in tow–lived on the island, and there were times when they were actively involved in rescuing the victims of shipwrecks. Twice a week, a boat brought them supplies from the Port d’Alcudia, but at times they were isolated when ships were unable to sail due to bad weather, and their staples would run out.

During the Spanish Civil War (1936–39), the population increased when soldiers were posted to guard and defend the coastline with three machine gun nests that were built on the islet. Later on, in 1960, when the lantern system was automated, the islet was uninhabited again.

Our local expert suggestion:

Visit on this website the section for beaches, and there is a “hidden path” to the lighthouse!

Our walk is not finished yet, and we will continue following the coast until we find this:

Walk up there, you will find a small path that runs beetween the golf course and the coast, and it will take us to Platja dels Cecs, a virgin beach of stones and rocks located near the beach of Alcanada in Alcúdia. It is an unfrequented place with views to the island of Alcanada.

We continue along the coast, and passing some old deffensive remains:

And our final destination will be Es Faralló beach. This is a small unspoilt cove which is 70 m long and 5 m wide; it is surrounded by a pine grove and thick vegetation, with large pebbles and rocks on the seabed, making it a perfect place for snorkelling.

suggestion from our Alcudia Explorer:

time to eat? try the 24€ menu at the Golf course Restaurant: great value for money and amazing views.

Please not all photos were taken on 7 December 2016, so in Summer sure it is slightly different: more people, hotter and more sun ;)))

Interested in other tours or excursions in Alcudia?

If you want some more options about tours and excursions in Alcudia, we recommend you to visit our website:

or come to visit us at one of our offices: http://www.nofrills-excursions.com/about_us/where-to-find-us.en.html