W
hether you are looking to build a home, renovate, make some minor updates or purchase a new piece of furniture, using locally sourced materials is something to seriously consider. Often architects or builders will recommend the “easy” solution of cement or mass-produced materials that are shipped over from Europe or further afield in large quantities, and they are common to work with. But, in fact, incorporating local as well as sustainably sourced materials is both aesthetically and financially an interesting proposition. What does ‘Made in Mallorca’ actually mean? What are some of the local materials used on the island and what makes them so special? Let’s find out.
Stone
‘Pedra en sec’, known as dry stone, is a building technique first used on the island around the 1st millenia, during the Talayotic period. Today you can find remains of small stone huts on Mallorca as well as neighbouring Menorca; their circular structures, often with small window openings or doorways, have clearly proven the durability of this type of building technique. You also see the pedra en sec process in play in many of the walls and walkways in the Tramuntana Mountains, in fact the popular GR 221 trail that snakes through the Serra de Tramuntana Mountains, is called the Pedra en Sec trail. Today, architects and builders are reconsidering this method both in the design of homes as well as exterior walls, using locally quarried stone.
Another beautiful local stone is the pinky-hued mares stone, found in places like Petra and Santanyi. This soft sandstone is used with a lime stucco for support and it was used to build La Seu cathedral and so many of the island’s stunning 16th or 17th century palacios. Mares can be used structurally as well as for more decorative purposes.
Binissalem stone, as its name implies, is quarried near the central valley wine region, Binissalem. It is a marbled limestone, with tones that range from grey to light pink to soft brown. The stone works beautifully as indoor and outdoor flooring, countertops, walk-in showers, as well as for textured stone sinks and cutting boards.