Porto Cristo

Last Saturday, Malcolm and I had a shorter trip down the east coast of the island taking in some of the delightful old fishing villages. We started at Porto Cristo.

This old village has become a major draw for tourists and has some wonderful villas on to cliff-tops overlooking the bay. As with much of the island, the underlying rocks are formed out of ancient coral reefs and you can still see some of the fossilised remains of shells, embedded in the rock.

The harbour is filled with many small (and some not-so-small) boats.

The village name, meaning 'Port of Christ' has two different theoretical origins. The first comes from a legend that in 1260, a fishing boat carrying a crucifix was washed ashore here. The other is, two oxen who were carrying an icon of Christ to Palma, stopped here and refused to move any further. So the icon stayed, and the town was named in its honour.
However it got it's name, it is a lovely place with nice views out to sea and some decent clouds too on this occasion.

Despite the arrival of mass tourism, the area clings on to it's charm and is still just a small, traditional fishing village and well worth a visit.