Bank on the Balearics

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10 April 2012

Ibiza's club scene still thrives and its cobbled old town is a Unesco World Heritage site — but beyond lie perfect, private beach coves, sleepy inland villages and a wide variety of places to stay, from chic boutique hotels to restored rural farmhouses.

A new British Airways route from London City Airport, starting at the end of May, will open up "the white isle" to Londoners wanting a weekend away (these will be unaffected by any strikes, apparently).

BA's new service will operate on Fridays, Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. From £69 one way, www.ba.com

The Ibiza Tourist Board has linked up with the Hotel Association so you can book accommodation via www.ibiza.travel — this includes campsites, self-catering, spa hotels and agroturismos.

If you prefer a tour operator, Classic Collection has just added two new five-star hotels: The Ibiza Gran Hotel, overlooking the old town and home to the only casino on the island, has seven nights from £1238pp B&B with return flights and private transfers.

Aguas de Ibiza is an eco-luxury hotel with a new Bodyna Natural Care centre and rooftop chill-out area, seven nights from £843pp B&B with return flights and private transfers. (www.classic-collection.co.uk).

Wellbeing holidays are a big trend for this year and, in keeping with the spirit of this, Ibiza Retreats' new wellbeing courses include yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, meditation, detox and dance, all staying in rural agroturismos.

Two-night packages with two private daily yoga, Pilates or Qi Gong classes with a wellness consultation and an Ibizan herbal oil massage from 448pp B&B, airport pick-up. Flights are not included (www.ibizaretreats.com).

Black Tomato has added a summer package with four nights at the Pacha hotel and four on Formentera (the smallest island in the group with unspoilt sandy beaches and no airport) from £2,490pp B&B including entry to Pacha nightclub, return flights, car hire on Formentera and transfers on Ibiza. www.blacktomato.co.uk

MALLORCA

Mallorca is famed for its miles of white-sand beaches and fashionable areas in the north — writer and poet Robert Graves was just one of the island's many famous residents. Palma, the capital, is a charming, cosmopolitan city with notable architecture, galleries, nightlife and restaurants. BA's new weekend service from London City Airport to Palma starts at the end of May (Friday to Monday, from £69 one way.

Mallorca Rocks, sister to the Ibiza Rocks hotel, opens in May. The opening party for this combined hotel and venue kicks off with the Kooks and Zane Lowe. The huge hotel will have 448 one and two-bedroom apartments, three bars and a five-a-side football pitch, large outdoor pool and tennis courts. Opening deal of £77pp for seven nights self-catering with ticket for the Kooks (www.mallorcarockshotel.com).

Cap Rocat, a chic new five-star hotel, opens just outside Palma in June. The former 19th-century fortress will have 24 rooms and suites with interiors by Antonia Obrador (the designer behind Claudia Schiffer's house and Michael Douglas's Mallorcan home).

It's character-chic, with original fittings incorporated into the design — door handles are made from bullets, old canons are used as tables.

There will be a nightclub called The Bunker, cookery lessons, two swimming pools and a private beach club. Doubles from 350 B&B (www.caprocat.com).

This year — this month — is the 200th anniversary of the birth of composer Frederic Chopin. In 1838, the 28-year-old Pole arrived on the island with his lover, the radical-thinking French author George Sand.

Although he didn't spend long here, Mallorcans celebrate his time on the island in the annual Chopin Festival.

Started in 1930, the Festival takes place in the cloisters of Valldemossa's Monastery (the Real Cartuja de Valldemossa) in the north of the island. The programme primarily consists of works by Chopin but there's music by others too. As well as concerts, which fall on four Sundays in August, there are exhibitions and other events. (www.festivalchopin.com).

Luxurious Mallorcan manor house La Residencia, in Deia, has a new nature trail which features donkeys to accompany guests — and carry the lunch — as they pass through pinewood forests and olive groves. Lunch is a picnic with locally sourced food taken in a shepherd's house. Walk and lunch, 65 (www.orientexpress.com).

Finally, Jumeirah, the Dubai-based hotel group behind the seven-star, sail-shaped Burj al Arab, plans to open a five-star resort in Puerto Soller early next year.

In true Jumeirah style, the 120-room hotel will be the "most luxurious in Spain", set on a hilltop overlooking the Bay of Soller and the Mediterranean beyond (www.jumeirah.com)
www.spain.info/uk

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