Bar Espanya: Full House

Just a few steps from Plaça Major warm light filters through the windows on the pavement of a narrow side street. People line up in front of a tapas bar, popular with locals and visitors alike. Bar Espanya is one of the few places left in the heart of Palma that serves pinchos every night. If you belong to the lucky ones who got a seat at the bar, the display will make your mouth water.

You can choose between lots of different small delicacies pinned on a thin slice of bread with a wooden skewer. Or you go for the tapas menu. Maybe start with a crispy coca, followed by fried eggs on pimientos de padrón. And why not share a typical ensalada rusa and some patatas bravas? Accompanied by a cerveza artesanal, or, if you are not into craft beer, a glass of wine, vermouth or sangria.

Be sure to leave room for the homemade postre. Cardenal de Lloseta is a traditional Mallorcan dessert made from sponge cake and cream. Here too, sharing is king, so you may also order a piece of warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream.

The bar is packed day and night, chat and laughter fill the room. And what the Trevi Fountain is to visitors to Rome, the mares walls are to the guests of Bar Espanya. Before heading off into the night, many of them leave a coin in a slot in the walls. Legend has it that by doing so you make sure to return one day. Nonetheless, better make a reservation in time.