“H

ow can we come together and rebuild a vision for the future of the Tramuntana Mountains and Mallorca based on the history and our shared love for this heritage?” asks Joe Holles, an activist, entrepreneur, co-founder of SONMO and one of the island’s leading voices in uniting the community and government around the protection and revitalisation of the Serra de Tramuntana. It’s surprising to learn that nearly 90% of the Tramuntana is in private hands because historically, from around the 14th-15th centuries, the land was farmed and cultivated by families who settled there. There are thousands of fincas scattered across the Tramuntana, but only a small fraction are still farming or able to take care of their land. 

While the government does what it can, and its status as a cultural landscape and UNESCO World Heritage Site protects it from development, the reality is that this magnificent natural area, and a life force for Mallorca, has little tangible support. Son Moragues, established in the 15th century, is one of the oldest and largest fincas in the Tramuntana. The nearly 1000-acre estate has an esteemed legacy and embodies the story of post-conquest Mallorca and the expansion of farming, commercial industry, economic growth and population. It was first owned by many generations of Moragues' and then Archduke Luis Salvador of Austria. It was a thriving farm for centuries, when thousands of olive trees were grafted and terraced farming became a functional and accessible way to work the land – thanks in great part to the Moors who found ways to tap into the mountain water source and built wells centuries earlier. As Holles describes, “It was very difficult what they did, grafting those wild trees then clearing rocks and building the terraces around them. With the terraces you can access the trees, so you can harvest them, you can prune them and you can bring sheep in to graze, and over time more earth is accumulated and captured from the rain that comes from Africa. And over the centuries, earth and fertile soil was created in the place of the rocks. Through this terraced farming, more water infiltrates and is captured, helping to supply other parts of the island with water as well.” All of this development leads to new migration patterns of birds, a boom of biodiversity and to the thriving natural habitat that is the Serra de Tramuntana.

Holles continues: “This is proof that when we do things well we can even improve nature, we can work in harmony with nature. Also the trans-cultural element [of Mallorca] is interesting to consider, especially today. Even if there were lots of bloodshed and wars throughout the centuries, agricultural heritage was usually exempt from the devastation of wars, while churches and mosques were razed to the ground or repurposed, irrigation structures, agricultural terraces and so on were lovingly preserved. It is that recognition of the cultural layers that we have here which is very inspiring.”