Coves Blanques Walk from Cala Sant Vicenç

The walk to Coves Blanques takes us to excavations cut deep into the rock, built as part of a project to position an artillery battery and store ammunition. Bunkers and similar structures are scattered along Mallorca’s coast, once a strategic area for keeping watch at sea.

This short walk suits children, grandparents and older walkers who are comfortable on stony ground. The route is straightforward, though the stones can make it uncomfortable underfoot. We recommend walking shoes with sturdy soles or hiking boots.

There’s a history to this walk worth remembering. The route is also known as the prisoners’ path. It was built by Republican prisoners in the early 1940s, in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War.

Republican prisoners brought from mainland Spain were held in a concentration camp and forced to build the path, cut into the rock and put up stone retaining walls. As we walk, we can see the scale of the work they were made to do.

Where the Coves Blanques walk starts

We start the walk to Ses Coves Blanques in Cala Sant Vicenç, a lovely spot worth visiting even out of season.

We can leave the car on Avinguda del Cavall Bernat in Cala Sant Vicenç. Almost at the end of the street, look for a rectangular wooden sign on the left, near the bins, marking the start.

There’s parking in the area and we usually find a space without difficulty out of season.

We follow a short stretch of road on a slight incline before taking the dirt path on the left into the woods.

The path forks almost immediately. We take the right-hand branch until we reach a gate on the right and a small memorial to the Republican prisoners.

From the gate, we simply follow the path to the excavations. It takes around 35 minutes. The path is stony and uneven underfoot, but the way is easy to follow.

We cross a bridge and pass a dry streambed and the remains of an old stone quarry. The best part is the views that open up as we go, over Cala Sant Vicenç, the cliffs of the Cavall Bernat ridge and, in the distance, the islet of El Colomer (guide in Spanish).

Arriving at the Coves Blanques excavations

We reach an open area with the entrance to the excavations on the right.

On our visit, we saw a short passage leading into the rock and an opening with a grille overhead that lets in light. The photograph shows the interior as we found it that day. The walk itself can finish at the entrance. Follow the signs on site.

To get a sense of what this work meant for the prisoners, around 40 metres were dug by hand with picks and shovels.

If we want to go a little farther, there’s an optional climb of about ten minutes up the path on the left to Puig del Sarró.

The path is a little harder to make out here. Small white marks on the rock gave us a rough idea of where to go on our visit.

On the way up there is an opening connected to the excavations, where the artillery battery was intended to go. From higher up, in addition to the views we’ve already mentioned, we can see part of Punta Galera and Punta Topina on the other side, on the northern coast of Pollença.

A little farther on, we get a better view of Punta Galera and can make out Cala Extremer and Cala Castell. The route can continue towards those coves via Pas dels Pescadors, but that’s a much longer walk beyond the scope of this outing.

We return by the same path, downhill this time. Keep an eye out for feral goats along the way. We saw quite a few that day.

Coves Blanques walk details