Mallorca: The island of celebrities

Crime writer Agatha Christie was an early visitor - in the 1930s she stayed in Port de Pollença and wrote 'Trouble in Pollensa Bay' from the Hotel Illa d'Or. A little further up the coast, the Hotel Formentor was a popular place from the 1930s to the 1950s. This can boast the names of Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Winston Churchill, Sir Peter Ustinov, Charles Chaplin and Edward Windsor among its former guests. It was also the place where Grace Kelly and Prince Ranier III spent their honeymoon. 

Exclusive celebrity meeting: Mallorca

Puerto Portals is another hotspot for celebrities on Mallorca. With a number of soap stars and TV presenters spending their holidays here. Recent famous visitors to this pompous marina have included Sharon Stone, Elizabeth Hurley as well as the Spanish royal family

The most exclusive place for celebrities is probably Deià, on the west coast of Mallorca. This pretty little town has been popular with artists since the 1950s and the exclusive La Residencia Hotel is a perennial favourite with many. From the late Princess Diana to Gwyneth Paltrow, Harrison Ford and Sting - the list is endless. 

Summer holidays: Michelle Obama in Mallorca

The former First Lady of the USA has been on holiday in Mallorca two summers in a row. She was invited by her good friend, ex-US Ambassador to Spain James Costos and his husband Michael Smith, for whom "Mallorca is her favourite place in the world". The couple usually spends part of the summer on the island. Michelle was their guest of honour in 2017 and 2018. From his base in the Serra de Tramuntana, Obama has been seen hiking in Esporles, visiting Port de Sóller and aboard a luxury yacht in Puerto Portals. 

The Spanish Royal Family in Mallorca

Mallorca has been the official holiday destination of the Spanish royal family since the current king was five years old. They enjoy two properties on the island: Almudaina Palace in Palma, right next to the cathedral, and Marivent Palace in Cala Major, where they spend their summer holidays. King Felipe is an experienced sailor and usually takes part in the Copa del Rey regatta at the end of July. Former Queen Sofía also spends the summer months in Mallorca with her sister Irene of Greece and likes to take her grandchildren sailing, to a live music concert or to dinner when they visit.

Visiting Mallorca: Rafael Nadal

Spain's most successful tennis player was born in Manacor, Mallorca's second largest city, where his parents still live. Nadal often returns home to relax with girlfriend Mery and train at his international tennis academy and the state-of-the-art sports centre he opened in his hometown in 2016. In 2019, the tennis superstar married at the stunning private villa Sa Fortalesa, the same place where footballer Gareth Bale got married a few years earlier.

Michael Douglas & Catherine Zeta-Jones

Michael Douglas has been a regular visitor to Mallorca since the late 1980s, when he bought the luxury villa S'Estaca with his ex-wife Diandra Luker. The luxury estate is located between Valldemossa and Deià, in the heart of the Serra de Tramuntana, and consists of seven separate buildings on a 77-hectare estate. After putting it on the market in 2014, he reportedly changed his mind and decided to keep it, buying Diandra Luker's half of the property for $15 million. Douglas and his wife, actress Catherine Zeta-Jones, usually spend a few weeks in Mallorca every summer.