Tapas in Palma de Mallorca: markets, local food and food tours

The best tapas in Palma de Mallorca are not found in a guidebook: you eat them at a market counter at lunchtime, made with produce from the stall next door. The city has two covered markets that play that role, the Olivar in the centre and Santa Catalina in the neighbourhood of the same name, and both close on Sundays. If you arrive on a Sunday hungry for local cooking, that is the first thing you need to know.

Here are the real opening hours, what to order, which products to take home (and how not to buy a frozen ensaïmada passed off as fresh), the tapas tours and classes worth paying for, and the wineries you can visit without a coach tour.

Mercat de l'Olivar: opening hours and what to eat

The Mercat de l'Olivar is at Plaça de l'Olivar 4, between Plaça d'Espanya and Carrer de Sant Miquel, a few steps from where the airport bus stops and the Sóller train departs. It has been a market since 1951 and is the centre's main food hall.

Hours: Monday to Friday 07:00–14:30 (part of it stays open 14:30–20:00), Saturday 07:00–15:00. The food counters serve Monday to Saturday until 16:00. Closed on Sundays and public holidays.

What to do there:

• Eat at the counters among the fish and seafood stalls: it is the closest thing to a tapas bar with the catch of the day.
• Walk round the charcuterie section to see real sobrassada before you buy any.
• Go up to the first floor: there is a Mercadona supermarket.

Mercat de Santa Catalina: tapas, oysters and vermouth

The Mercat de Santa Catalina (Plaça de la Navegació, in the Santa Catalina neighbourhood, a short walk from Es Baluard) bills itself as Palma's senior municipal market, the oldest in the city. Its bars are the reason to go: tapas, wine and oysters at the counter.

Hours: Monday to Saturday, shops 07:00–15:00 and bars and restaurants 07:00–17:00. Closed on Sundays and public holidays (12 October, for example). One detail to note: the fishmongers do not open on Mondays, so the fish counters and oyster bars are at their best Tuesday to Saturday.

On Saturday around midday and early afternoon the counters fill with locals having a vermouth: it is the easiest local scene to find in Palma without booking anything. Arrive early if you want a spot at the bar. From the centre you can walk along the Passeig Marítim or take EMT line 46.

Palma's other covered markets

Pere Garau market opens Monday to Saturday 06:00–14:30; Llevant market, Monday to Saturday 07:00–15:00 and until 20:00 on Fridays, one of the few options for an afternoon market.

Typical food in Palma de Mallorca: what to order

Mallorcan cooking is about simple produce and the oven. What you will see on almost every menu:

• Pa amb oli: bread with olive oil, rubbed tomato and something on top (ham, cheese, cured sausage). The island's casual supper.
• Tumbet: layers of fried vegetables (potato, aubergine, pepper) with tomato sauce.
• Frit mallorquí: a fry-up of offal or lamb with potato and peppers. An old-school bar dish, not a designer-restaurant one.
• Sobrassada: soft, spreadable cured pork sausage with paprika. It has had European Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status since 1996.
• Ensaïmada: spiral pastry, plain or filled. PGI since 2003; sold in boxes to carry on the plane.

How to buy sobrassada and ensaïmada without being conned

Look for the PGI seal on the label: each product's regulatory council controls it. It is the only guarantee that it is genuinely Mallorcan. With ensaïmada, the best-documented fraud is selling deep-frozen ones as freshly made: at Ibiza airport inspectors seized more than 450 pieces in that state. Buy from a bakery or a market and ask when it was made.

Tapas trail in Palma: the Ruta Martiana and Sa Gerreria

The Ruta Martiana is a Sa Gerreria tradition, the neighbourhood of narrow streets just east of Plaça de Cort and Plaça Major. It started in 2008, in the middle of the economic crisis, when several bars agreed to offer a small tapa with a small beer at a very low price on Tuesday evenings (from 19:00). It got so crowded that the city council looked into noise controls in the area.

Today it is best treated as what it is: a neighbourhood custom, not an event with a programme. Check locally that it is still running before you plan your evening around it, and how many bars take part. If you cannot find it on a Tuesday, Sa Gerreria is still one of the two neighbourhoods where locals go out, along with Santa Catalina, and neither is affected by the alcohol restrictions in the tourist zones (we explain them in the nightlife guide).

Tapas in Playa de Palma

If you are staying in Playa de Palma and looking for tapas there, bear in mind that this stretch of coast is a zone with special rules: bars cannot run happy hours or 2-for-1 offers, and a restaurant set menu can include at most three alcoholic drinks per person. For tapas with a local crowd, EMT bus 25 takes you to Plaça de la Reina by the cathedral, and from there Sa Gerreria is on the other side of the old town.

Tapas and food tours in Palma: which to choose

A tapas tour makes sense on your first day, if you want someone to explain what you are eating. If you already know your way around, the markets give you the same for less.

Palma's official guided tours directory lists two tapas tours: Call & Ride's "Old Town + Tapas", on foot, 3 hours, at 10:30 from Plaça del Rosari 4, for €47; and Palma on Bike's tapas bike tour, 2.5 hours at 11:00, €48 (€45 for under-12s). The platforms have more options, with reviews you can read:

The food tours we would pick

1

First day in Palma

Walking food tour of the old town, 3 hours, rated 4.6 out of 5 by more than 600 people: the classic format of stops and explanations.

GetYourGuide3 hours

Food and nights· Palma city

Palma de Mallorca: Foodie Walking Tour of the Old Town

4.6 (642)

from €65Check availability

2

Tight budget

A 2.5–3 hour walk with the cathedral and local tastings from €39: mixes sights and food, well rated.

GetYourGuide2.5 - 3 hours

Food and nights· Palma city

Palma de Mallorca: Walking Tour, Cathedral & Local Tasting

4.8 (223)

from €39Check availability

3

Rather pedal

Tapas by bike with a drink, 2.5 hours: covers more ground than on foot, and the seafront is flat.

GetYourGuide2.5 hours

Food and nights· Palma city

Palma de Mallorca: Guided Bicycle Tour with Tapas & a Drink

4.7 (36)

from €61Check availability

4

Wine lovers

Wine and gourmet tapas route from €55, with almost 800 reviews and a 4.6 rating.

GetYourGuide1 day

Food and nights· Palma city

Palma de Mallorca: Gourmet Tapas and Wine Tour

4.6 (779)

from €55Check availability

GetYourGuide3 hours

Food and nights· Palma city

Palma de Mallorca: Foodie Walking Tour of the Old Town

4.6 (642)

from €65Check availability

GetYourGuide2 hours

Food and nights· Rest of the island

Visit to the olive grove, olive oil tasting and snack

4.9 (208)

from €49.50Check availability

GetYourGuide2.5 - 3 hours

Food and nights· Palma city

Palma de Mallorca: Walking Tour, Cathedral & Local Tasting

4.8 (223)

from €39Check availability

GetYourGuide2 hours

Food and nights· Rest of the island

Mallorca: Bodega Butxet Vineyards & Winery Tour with Tasting

4.8 (207)

from €22Check availability

GetYourGuide7 - 8 hours

Food and nights· Rest of the island

Mallorca: Alcudia Old Town, Market, and Formentor Beach

4.3 (326)

from €62Check availability

GetYourGuide5 - 7 hours

Food and nights· Rest of the island

Mallorca’s Emblematic Wineries Small Group Tour, Two Wineries

4.8 (181)

from €135Check availability

See everything on GetYourGuide →Prices checked on 6 October 2026

Cooking classes in Palma

A cooking class is a way to take home more than photos. The two best-rated ones you can book online in Palma are the Spanish cooking experience, 3 hours, from €120 with a perfect score across 500 reviews, and the Mediterranean cooking class with drinks, also 3 hours, from €99. Read the programme before booking to know whether you will cook yourself or just watch.

Wine tasting near Palma: Binissalem and other wineries

Wine from inland Mallorca has its own designation of origin, D.O. Binissalem. The easiest winery to visit independently is José L. Ferrer (C/ Conquistador 103, Binissalem), with buildings ranging from 1931 to the present. It runs guided visits with tasting Monday to Saturday at 11:00, 13:00 and 15:30, and on Sundays at 11:00 and 13:00, lasting about 50 minutes, for groups of 2 to 60 people:

They take bookings for two people at fixed times every day, Sunday included: email visitas@vinosferrer.com or call +34 971 100 100. It is the simplest tasting for a Sunday when Palma's markets are shut. To go without a car, check the Palma–Inca train line and the nearest stop on tib.org before setting off.

If you would rather be driven, the platforms have a Butxet winery visit with tasting from €22, a Bodegas Bordoy tour in Llucmajor from €49 and a small-group tour of two wineries from €135 including transport. For olive oil, the olive grove visit with tasting (from €49.50) and the tasting at Can Det estate in Sóller (from €30) pair well with a trip to Sóller by train.

Weekly markets in Mallorca: which day is which

Village markets are outdoors, in the morning, and mix fruit, charcuterie, ceramics and clothes. The most useful ones if you are based in Palma:

For Sineu, take the train: line T3 leaves from the Estació Intermodal (Plaça d'Espanya) and takes about 51 minutes; on weekdays there are departures at, for example, 08:05, 08:45, 09:25 and 10:05. You save hunting for parking in a village that fills up on market day. Check the current timetable on tib.org. Porto Cristo on a Sunday pairs well with the Coves del Drac, and Valldemossa with the Cartoixa (the monastery closes on Sundays, but the market is on). Some organised trips stop at Alcúdia market, such as the Formentor tour with market and beach, from €61.

How to plan a food day in Palma

A day that works: ensaïmada at a bakery, the morning at the Olivar while it is in full swing, lunch at the Santa Catalina counters (until 17:00) and tapas in the evening in Sa Gerreria. Tuesday fits the Ruta Martiana; Saturday, the market vermouth. What does not work: markets on a Sunday, fish at Santa Catalina on a Monday, or sobrassada bought at the airport.

If you are on a cruise, EMT line 1 brings you close to the centre (see the cruise port guide). For groups, Palma's civic bylaw caps guided groups at 20 people; for livelier plans, see stag and hen parties in Mallorca, and for couples, Palma for couples. More ideas in things to do in Palma.