shopping
Mallorca offers you a wide variety of options so that your free time, your holidays or your business trips are interesting and attractive and exceed your expectations. We are specialists in designing perfect holidays. That’s the reason why we are the main holiday destination.
That means that our hotels, our beaches, our services, our gastronomic diversity, our attractions, our sports opportunities, our weather and our landscape are perfect to satisfy the expectations of all visitors, no matter where they are from.
In a globalised world, the shopping aspect is obvious. However, who doesn’t like to buy a nice souvenir or those fashion accessories that you don’t have time to buy in your country?
Holidays are the perfect time to rest, but also to go shopping in a more relaxed way. From this point of view, whether you need something in particular or you just want to buy a nice souvenir, in Mallorca you will find almost everything you need.
If you go shopping, please take the following details into consideration:
Opening Hours:
The usual shop hours in Mallorca are as follows: Monday to Saturday from 9:00 am to 13:30 pm and from 16:30 pm to 20:00 pm. There is no extreme inflexibility and some shops stay open all day long, while others stay closed on Saturday evening. The usual closing day is Sunday (and Holidays, too). However, in the tourist areas, some shops make their openings and closing hours more flexible, both in working days and holidays.
In Mallorca, supermarkets are open from Monday to Saturday from 9:00 am until 21:00 pm with no interruptions. Department stores have similar opening hours, although they close at 21:30 pm.
Hypermarkets and shopping centres are open from 10:00 am to 22:00 pm. They also open some holidays and exceptionally on Sunday.
Sales:
In the Balearic Islands sales are regulated. As the rest of Spain, there are two shopping sale seasons every year: one in January and the other one in July. They usually last between 45 and 60 days.
Taxes:
On shops, Value Added Tax (VAT) is 18% and is always included in the purchase price. Non-EU citizens can obtain a tax refund when leaving the UE.
Best buys:
Across Mallorca, even in the smallest villages, there are shops where you can buy traditional handmade articles.
The website of the IBI Comerç Foundation has a browser to look for all sorts of businesses. All businesses have a file indicating their address and their business category. The product list is divided into four groups: Food, Leather, Fabrics, Perfumery, etc.
Local craftworks:
Although craftwork is in decline, in Mallorca it subsists thanks to the tourism, since our visitors buy typical products made by our artisans that are the result of our culture and the folk traditions.
Cultured pearls are a good example, as well as blown glass, leather craftwork (shoes), pottery, embroidery, basketry and fabrics.
It is also important to mention the famous siurells, anthropomorphic colourful whistles of unknown origins. They are exclusive from Mallorca and have very peculiar shapes.
The Roba de Llengües (literally “Tongue Cloth”, due to their longish print design) are handcrafted traditional fabrics typical of Mallorca. The manufacture of these fabrics implies the preparation of the warp with white cotton, in the same way as it was made in ancient times. Afterwards, the fabric is dyed little by little, according to the chosen design. Due to this, the Roba de Llengües fabrics do not have a front or a back side, since both sides have the same print design.
Other traditional Mallorcan craftworks are:
The typical Mallorcan embroideries include the Mallorcan stitch, the looped stitch, the cross-stitch...
The manufacture of Mallorca espadrilles and footwear
Jewellery artisans
Wrought iron artisans
The luthiers, creators of the traditional Mallorcan folk instruments
Apart from the traditional products, the island of Mallorca also offers many other options: from fantastic shopping centres with hypermarkets and supermarkets to specialised shops in which you can find specific big brands, outlet areas, etc. Let your imagination carry you away.