The resilience of Mallorcan goats in the Sierra de Tramuntana.

A few days ago I was driving my car on the motorway towards Antratx, at the Palmanova exit I noticed some cars slowing down, as an urban man, used to city traffic, I thought of an accident, but the cause of this momentary queue of cars was the crossing of a pedestrian, or rather an animal. A group of five baby goats were crossing the road to return to their natural habitat after a short visit to the ‘city’. What struck me was that they seemed to be neither frightened nor agitated, although some impatient drivers had started to honk their horns, they were not afraid because the island has been their home for thousands of years, and it is clear that these audacious creatures have also gradually adapted to the changing circumstances.

The Mallorcan goat (Capra aeagrus hircus) is originally from East Asia and was introduced to Mallorca between 2500 and 1400 BC. It has adapted perfectly to the island’s ecosystem and climatic conditions, where it lives free and happy between the Tramuntana and Llevant mountain ranges. Its presence in these areas even helps man to control the spread of fires, eating the undergrowth and what nature has to offer along roadsides.

A fun ‘game’, while in the car (driver excluded), is to look at the surrounding landscape from the car windows in search of Mallorcan goats.

My advice during your visit to the islands, whether with the family or not, is to take a drive along the wonderful routes of the Tramuntana Mountains, a World Heritage Site, 63,000 hectares of authentic natural paradise between Calvià and Pollença, a place of wonderful itineraries through forests, rugged rocky coasts and hidden coves that are sometimes difficult to reach. Among the many popular and well-known villages (from Valldemosa to Deia), I suggest you visit one that is a little off the beaten track: FORNALUTX. Some magazines have dubbed it ‘the most beautiful village in Spain’. The village was built over a thousand years ago in the shadow of Puig Major, the highest mountain on the island. Fornalutx is also the starting point for some of the most evocative walks on the island, the ‘cami de Binibassi’ being one of them, an ideal path for a beautiful hike that combines views, paths, history, fauna and flora… and perhaps whilst walking, hiking it or driving towards it you will be lucky enough to come across one of these little Mallorcan goats, a symbol of an adaptable nature that, in spite of all our neglect, resists.