It was the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona that changed the fate of Mallorca, the Balearic island off the coast of Spain. In the decades leading up to the Olympics, the once sleepy island—a midpoint between Europe and North Africa—had been shocked awake by a mass influx of British vacationers in search of cheap sunshine. The surge of tourism had led to the destruction of traditional Mallorcan architecture to make way for modern hotels and holiday homes.1 But Barcelona’s Olympic tourists were different, keen to discover the cultural charms of Catalonia: its Moorish architecture, distinctive cuisine and the fantastical, omnipresent influence of Gaudí. All these interests eventually pointed visitors toward Mallorca, the nearest island to the city. “They wanted a kind of Tuscany, ” recalls Biel Huguet, director of tile manufacturer Huguet. “They said, ‘I want a house, but I don’t want this rubbish you built in the ’80s or ’90s. I want traditional materials. I This story is from Kinfolk Issue Forty-One Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 41 The Cowboys of Tuscany In Italy’s unruly Maremma, a handful of horsemen corral cattle at breakneck speeds. Arts & Culture Issue 41 The Lighthouse Keeper of Beirut Victor Chebli has weathered storms, war and three kidnappings to maintain his family’s shining legacy. Arts & Culture Issue 41 A Cinema in Tangier The artist Yto Barrada on co-founding a cinema for the city that inspires her art. Arts & Culture Issue 41 A Desperate Crossing Olivia Spili, of the NGO Sea-Watch, details a very different Mediterranean reality. Arts & Culture Issue 41 An Artist in Tunis Dora Dalila Cheffi is building her reputation, and her home, in the Tunisian capital. Design Issue 34 Josephine Akvama Hoffmeyer Copenhagen’s queen of color makes the case for “weird” shades and dark rooms.
Arts & Culture Issue 41 The Cowboys of Tuscany In Italy’s unruly Maremma, a handful of horsemen corral cattle at breakneck speeds.
Arts & Culture Issue 41 The Lighthouse Keeper of Beirut Victor Chebli has weathered storms, war and three kidnappings to maintain his family’s shining legacy.
Arts & Culture Issue 41 A Cinema in Tangier The artist Yto Barrada on co-founding a cinema for the city that inspires her art.
Arts & Culture Issue 41 A Desperate Crossing Olivia Spili, of the NGO Sea-Watch, details a very different Mediterranean reality.
Arts & Culture Issue 41 An Artist in Tunis Dora Dalila Cheffi is building her reputation, and her home, in the Tunisian capital.
Design Issue 34 Josephine Akvama Hoffmeyer Copenhagen’s queen of color makes the case for “weird” shades and dark rooms.
