In the heart of the Balearic Islands lies a piece of land that is not only famous for the sea but also a refuge and wellspring of inspiration for three giants of European culture.
In fact, beyond its turquoise waters, Mallorca has been home, haven, and spark of inspiration. Today we take you inside the rooms where George Sand once wrote, into the echoes of Chopin’s music that still linger in the air of Valldemossa, and through Joan Miró’s studio—frozen in time, as if his brush had just touched the canvas.
1️⃣ “The Mediterranean is the colour of my soul”
In 1956, at the age of 63, Miró left Paris and Barcelona to settle in the Palma of his ancestors. He was seeking “light, space, silence”—and found them on the hillside of Cala Major, where he built the Taller Sert in collaboration with architect Josep Lluís Sert.
He arrived on the island with his lifelong partner, Pilar, and lived in Palma until nearly 100 years old, turning the place into his dream workshop.
The foundation not only hosts his paintings and sculptures, but also includes a beautiful garden overlooking the city, dotted with his outdoor works. The true gem is his studio (shown in the cover photo), preserved exactly as he left it. Walking around you can seed stacked canvases, his chair, table, paints, and the famous colorful doors that have become a tourist icon of Mallorca. A little higher up, near the lookout, visitors can find a second studio built later for sculpture, on an estate Miró purchased later in life.
What to See Today
- Fundació Miró Mallorca
- The studio frozen in time: Canvases leaning on walls, jars of pigment left open, notes scribbled on stone walls—as if Miró might walk back in at any moment.
- Street Miró: Mosaics and the large mural facing the La Seu Cathedral.
“In Mallorca, I found my universe.” – Joan Miró
2️⃣ Chopin: A Pleyel beneath the winter sky
Chopin arrived in Palma on November 8 with a rented Pleyel piano from Paris, seeking a milder climate to ease his tuberculosis. Accompanying him were the writer George Sand and her two children.
Inside the Cartoixa, cell no. 4, Chopin composed his Preludes op. 28, Polonaise op. 40 no. 2, and Waltz op. 64 no. 2. It turned out to be a wet and cold winter—the opposite of what he had hoped—but the Serra de Tramuntana mountains gave him unforgettable sonic landscapes.
What Remains Today in Valldemossa.
- Original Pleyel piano
- Chopin Museum
- Chopin Festival in Valldemossa (July–August)
3️⃣ A rebel with a pen and a man’s overcoat
A Woman Ahead of Her Time
Amantine Aurore Dupin, known by her pen name George Sand, traveled to Mallorca with Chopin’s to seek a place, far from the social circles of Paris.
In 1842, she published “A Winter in Mallorca“: a vivid diary filled with landscapes, orange markets, and sudden siroccos.
“The mountains look like seashells that came from the ocean to listen to the wind.” – George Sand
- Cartoixa Library: A first edition of her book, with handwritten notes.
- Literary Walk: The Sand–Chopin trail winds through olive groves, featuring diary excerpts carved into stone.
For Miró, Mallorca’s light was “chromatic oxygen”; for Chopin, its rural silence turned a winter of illness into eternal music; for Sand, its limestone cliffs became pages to write on. Three reasons to visit this magic island.
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