Fornalutx
Encyclopedia
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
and village on Majorca, one of the Balearic Islands
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
, in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. The nearest town is Sóller
Sóller
Sóller is a town and municipality near the north west coast of Mallorca, in the Balearic Islands of Spain. The town is some 3km inland, from the Port de Sóller, in a large, bowl-shaped valley that also includes the village of Fornalutx and the hamlets of Biniaraix and Binibassi. The combined...
, which can be reached by foot via a series of pathways, and the hamlet of Binibassi. Surrounding mountains include the Alfabia Mountains
Alfabia Mountains
The Alfabia Mountains are a mountain range in Majorca located in the municipality of Fornalutx....
and the Els Cornadors
Els Cornadors
Els Cornadors are a mountain range in Majorca located in the municipality of Sóller....
. Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
is the most popular local language - however, all residents speak Castilian Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
as well. Fornalutx covers an area of 19.5 km² and as of 2008 had 469 inhabitants.
The village
The centre of Fornalutx is the Plaça d'Espanya, surrounded by cafés and a general store. Overlooking the square (on a higher level reached by steps) is the church, which has a large clock on its façade. Just down the street is the Panadería de Fornalutx (the local bakery), and on the road leading out of the town several restaurants. The old tower at the east side of the village is also used as the ajuntament (town hall), and just a few houses away from it is the public washing house. The latter has an open loggia at its front with a long bath of water (channelled here in open stone culverts alongside the roads coming down from the hills) and a rail above it where locals leave their clothes to be washed or to wash themselves.The architecture of the village is of stone and red roof tiles, with most buildings' windows also having green painted wooden shutters. The stone façades on the majority of these houses have been exposed in recent years by removing the original render to give the buildings a more rustic appearance than was originally the case. Built on different levels, many of the higher streets are pedestrianised and cobbled, with grassy paths leading off into the orchards and farms to the north.
The dominant large plants in the area are orange
Orange (fruit)
An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....
trees, lemon
Lemon
The lemon is both a small evergreen tree native to Asia, and the tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind are also used, mainly in cooking and baking...
trees and cacti
Cactus
A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae. Their distinctive appearance is a result of adaptations to conserve water in dry and/or hot environments. In most species, the stem has evolved to become photosynthetic and succulent, while the leaves have evolved into spines...
. Thousands of house sparrow
House Sparrow
The House Sparrow is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. One of about 25 species in the genus Passer, the House Sparrow occurs naturally in most of Europe, the Mediterranean region, and much of Asia...
s flit around the area and sheep graze in the surrounding orchards.
Fornalutx has received prizes and recognition for tourism and conservation. In 1983 it was awarded the Mallorcan Tourism Board Silver Plaque for the defence and maintenance of the village. The same year the General Secretary for Tourism gave it the Second National Price for Towns embellished and maintained in Spain. In 1985 it received the Premi Alzina from the Grup Balear d'Ornitologia i Defensa de la Naturalesa.