Palau de l'Almudaina
Castle · Mallorca
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The Royal Palace of La Almudaina, one of Spain's official royal residences, began as an Arab fortress and was substantially rebuilt in the early 14th century. It faces the cathedral directly across the square.
Spain's king and queen still spend part of every summer inside these walls, so a visit here steps into rooms the royal family actually uses rather than a preserved shell. The Moors built the original fortress on the site, known as the Zuda, to guard the entrance to Palma's harbour. James I of Aragon seized it in 1229 when he took Mallorca from Moorish rule, and the fortress became a royal seat. His successor James II rebuilt it in Gothic style between 1305 and 1314, adding the great hall known as the Tinell and the Chapel of Saint Anne, whose portal is cut from Pyrenean marble, a rare Romanesque doorway on the island. In 1549 Philip II turned part of the palace into the seat of the island's governing court, layering a new use onto the Gothic rooms. Between the King's and Queen's quarters, three small rooms of the original Moorish baths, hot, tepid and cold, still survive from the Zuda era.
What you see
A plain fortress block rises straight off Palma's old sea wall, its Gothic tracery windows cut into the older Moorish stone that once guarded the harbour.
Practical
Open Tuesday to Sunday year round (closed Mondays), 10:00 to 19:00 in summer and 10:00 to 18:00 in winter; EU and Latin American ID holders get free entry on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons from 15:00.
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