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72 
Chapter 11 - Places to
Visit & Things to Do
73
SPORTS
Facilities for all kinds of sport are available in Minorca, especially for
those connected with the sea.
Sailing. Sailing dinghies may be hired at Port Mahon, Fornells, Son
Bou, Galdana and Castell beaches, and tuition is available at Port Mahon,
Fornells and Son Bou. For the serious sailor, more sophisticated facilities
are available at the Club Maritimo in Mahon, where there is a summer
programme of regattas.
Subaqua Sports. Tuition and advice on this is available at Port
Mahon, S’Algar and at Cala'n Porter. It is possible to explore submerged
ancient settlement sites and wrecks. This is an exciting sport in Minorca
for the skilled. The remains of Greek amphorae and pottery have been found.
Water-skiing , sailboarding and pedallos are available at almost all
the beaches which cater for tourists.
Swimming. Minorca is renowned for its safe and delightful swimming,
but beaches frequented by tourists use a flag-warning system when storms
are imminent. Such conditions rarely occur during the summer months. Most
of the hotels have swimming-pools.
Golf. There is a golf courses located at Son Parc.
Tennis is also available to visitors in many parts of the
island.
Viewer Sports. Mahon and Ciudadela each have a football stadium and
a hippodrome (racecourse). At the latter, trotting races are also held.
BIRD-WATCHING
To northern European visitors accustomed to seeing thousands of seabirds
on cliffs and offshore islands, Minorcan coasts seem silent and bare. The
herring gull and cormorant nest on its cliffs, but in small numbers. The
Lake of Albufera, however, teems with mallard, teal and partridge, while
grey and purple heron and numerous waders frequent its shallows, and an
occasional exotic pink flamingo displays its red and black wings as it
takes off.
Minorca has long been a protected island for birds, as a staging post on
summer and winter migrations. The effects of tourist development on its
bird ecology have caused local naturalists concern.
Other good sites for bird observation are at Fornells and Port Addaya.
Inland the peregrine falcon and other predatory birds are seen
hovering overhead, as well as an occasional golden eagle, with
characteristic splayed and upturned wingtips. There are numerous smaller
birds-swallows, warblers and thrushes, not forgetting the friendly robin.
About 180 separate species are said to have been identified in Minorca, but
previous lists dealt with the Balearics as a whole. No separate list of the
birds of Minorca has previously been compiled in English, and for this
reason the sightings in 1974 given in Appendix C
are of great interest .
FOOD
Food often plays an important part in one's holiday. Minorca is not a
gourmet's paradise, and what one is offered depends a good deal on where
one is staying. As elsewhere in Europe, hotels tend to offer
'international' menus, and their quality and variety are usually in
proportion to the price one is paying. Minorca has several excellent
restaurants both in town and country, so that it would be invidious to mention
some and not others.
The island has few regional dishes of distinction. The traditional local
dishes are often soups. It has been said that these are historically a
'heritage of the hungry' and have their origin in meagre times when food
was scarce. The two most common are zarzuela soup which has a basis
of fish, and gazpacho, a vegetable soup which is taken cold. Fish is
not as plentiful as one would expect in an island, for the almost tide-less
Mediterranean is lacking in plankton, the basic food of larval fishes.
Restaurants, especially at Villa Carlos (Es Castell) and at Fornells,
however, specialise in sea-food. In addition to shell-fish, lobsters and
calamares (squids), the most palatable are red mullet (salmonete), sole
(lenguado), denton (there is no English for this), tunny - first introduced
by the Romans - and a large species of sardine. Paella is a popular dish,
and is made of saffron rice cooked with sea-food, oil and peppers and often
including octopus. Salads and Spanish omelettes are common entrees, and one
must not forget the famous mayonnaise sauce which is served with
meat as well as salads.
A word on drinks must be added. These are relatively cheap on the
island. Gin is manufactured locally and Minorcans drink it with a slice of
lemon and soda water (they call it pallofa), or else neat. Sangria is a
refreshing drink to take with lunch in the hot weather. It consists of red
wine served in large jugs in which float sliced fresh fruits - apples,
oranges and peaches. If desired it can be laced with brandy, liqueurs and
cinnamon. Spanish ‘champagne’ and brandies are also popular. One rarely
sees an intoxicated Minorcan, perhaps because they drink wines from an
early age.
Both in and out of season, Minorca has a number of nightclubs
for tourists. The ones at the resorts tend to be seasonal.
THE SIESTA
One of the best things to learn to do in Minorca is to adopt the Spanish
custom of taking an afternoon siesta. This is the reason why Mahon
and Ciudadela are completely deserted from 2pm till nearly five and are
lively in the evenings and at night.
If one rises reasonably early in the mornings, this is not a slothful
habit, and also keeps the older among us refreshed and relaxed. Like the
Minorcans one can then stay up longer at night, thus getting almost two
days for one.
With this mathematical thought, we conclude our account of the Summer
Island.
APPENDIX A - Information for Visitors
APPENDIX B - Chronology of Important Events
APPENDIX C - The Birds of Minorca
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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