Felanitx
Illes Balears · Balearic Islands
DO Pla i Llevant19.146inhabitants
1233first mention
1891wine documented
A town in south-eastern Majorca, with the port of Portocolom, the sanctuary of Sant Salvador and the castle of Santueri. Its original core is probably Andalusi. James II of Majorca granted it a settlement charter in 1300 and it obtained the title of city in 1886.
First mention: According to the Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana, the original settlement is already mentioned in 1233, shortly after the conquest by James I (1229). The forms Fenalitx and Felanitx appear in 13th-century documents.
The legend
export boom, late 19th century; crisis 1891; Oenological Station 1912–1913; Celler Cooperatiu 1919From Portocolom to Sète: the wine of Felanitx and its Oenological Station
At the end of the 19th century Felanitx was the great vineyard of Majorca: it came to have more than 3,000 hectares of vines, over a third of the island's total, and it distilled aguardiente. While phylloxera ravaged France, ships sailed from Portocolom, the municipality's port, straight to Sète in Languedoc. The dream ended abruptly in 1891, when France shut the door with new tariffs and phylloxera reached the island: the town was ruined. Recovery had two buildings as its symbols: the Oenological Station, built in 1913 and directed by the engineer Ernest Mestre, and the Celler Cooperatiu of 1919, designed by the architect Guillem Forteza.
Alive today: The former Oenological Station of Felanitx houses the headquarters of the Regulatory Council of the DOP Pla i Llevant (1999), which brings together twelve bodegas from eastern Majorca. Armero i Adrover and Es Fangar make wine in the municipality. The Celler Cooperatiu no longer serves its original purpose and awaits a restoration project.
Wineries and their wines
- Fangar · Elements
- Genesis Semi Dolç
- Lo Cortinel·lo
- N'Amarat
- Sa Fita
- Sa Sivina
- Son P
- TwentyTwelve White
Wine towns nearby