Art and Culture in Andratx: The CCA and the Weekly Market
Just over ten minutes inland from Mon Port lies a town that rarely makes it onto the postcards, yet shelters two very different cultural lives under the same sky. Andratx — the town, not the port — is a curious crossroads: in a single morning you can go from one of Spain's largest contemporary art centres to the bustle of a market that has been held for more than a century. Two ways of understanding Mallorcan culture, the avant-garde and the timeless, a short stroll apart.
Wednesday is the big day. From early morning, the Passeig de Son Mas and the surrounding streets fill with stalls: fruit and vegetables straight from the orchard, cheeses and cured meats, freshly baked bread, flowers, clothes, leather goods and ceramics. The Andratx market is no recent invention: records of it go back to the mid-19th century, when it was held in what is now the Plaça d'Espanya, before moving to its present spot. This is not a market staged for visitors, though it welcomes them warmly; it is where the people of the town come to do their shopping and greet one another, and that authenticity shows at every stall. If you visit in summer, it is worth picking up a few vine tomatoes, some green peppers and a sweet onion — the very ingredients of trempó, the salad at the heart of Mallorca's most homely cooking. Arrive early, before the heat sets in, and leave the car on the outskirts to walk in.
A few minutes away, at the foot of the Serra de Tramuntana, the contrast awaits. CCA Andratx (Centre Cultural Andratx) is a light-filled building of some 4,000 square metres, with the air of a contemporary cloister, surrounded by countryside and mountains. It was founded in 2001 by the Danish couple Jacob and Patricia Asbaek, and has since become one of the most important contemporary art spaces in the Balearics. Its halls host several major curated exhibitions a year, alongside galleries devoted both to international artists and to emerging island talent. There is also a sculpture garden, a central courtyard reminiscent of a cloister, and an artist residency programme that has welcomed hundreds of artists from around the world. You can round off the visit, unhurried, in its café — one of those surprises you never expect to find in the middle of the countryside.
The real charm lies in combining the two. A Wednesday morning is plenty of time to wander the market, enjoy a coffee on a terrace in the centre and head on to the CCA, when the sun is high and the calm of the white galleries is all the more welcome. It is a change from the beach, ideal for a slightly cloudy day or simply for discovering the Andratx that exists beyond the port. And since both sit in the town, a short drive from the coast, it is easy to set aside half a day for them and still be back in time for an afternoon by the sea or a spell in the hotel spa.
That said, before setting off it is worth checking the market times on the Ajuntament d'Andratx website and the current exhibitions and opening hours on the CCA's own site, as both vary with the season.
Because Mallorca is not only about the sea. Sometimes the most memorable part of a trip lies inland: in the scent of fruit at a market stall and the silence of a gallery, just a few minutes' drive apart.
