Es Trenc-Salobrar de Campos Natural Park

Parque Natural de Es Trenc-Salobrar de Campos covers the southern tip of Mallorca and brings together two contrasting ecosystems separated by only a few metres: the dunes and pine trees framing Es Trenc beach, and the Salobrar saltpans, one of the largest coastal wetlands in the Balearic Islands. At dawn, the saltpan water turns coral pink from halophytic algae and wading flamingo flocks; by midday the fine white sand of Es Trenc gleams with an intensity that makes you squint. This duality between the briny silence of the interior and the sound of waves along the shore defines the park's character.

Es Trenc beach stretches nearly four kilometres with no beach bars or built promenades, making it one of the few undeveloped fine-sand beaches left on Mallorca. The dune system sheltering it hosts drought- and salt-adapted plant species: sea holly (Eryngium maritimum), marram grass (Ammophila arenaria), and sea lavender (Limonium virgatum), whose lilac flowers dot the sand in summer. Behind the dunes, a belt of Aleppo pines (Pinus halepensis) acts as a natural windbreak. Walking barefoot from the Es Trenc car park to the beach's eastern end takes around forty minutes and reveals the gradual transition from the near-bare primary dune to the stabilised, vegetated secondary dune.

The Salobrar de Campos is a complex of active and inactive saltpans covering around 800 hectares, partly managed for salt production. That industrial activity, seemingly at odds with conservation, is precisely what maintains the open habitat that wading birds require. Shallow lagoons attract dunlins, ringed plovers, redshanks and, during autumn passage, black-winged stilts. The greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is present year-round in variable numbers, with the largest concentrations between July and October when birds arrive from Camargue and Fuente de Piedra colonies. The path skirting the Salobrar's western perimeter — three kilometres round trip — allows observation of these species without entering the restricted zone.

The park has no developed trail network, but the Salobrar perimeter track and the car-park access paths allow both ecosystems to be explored in a single day. The full circular route of around twelve kilometres starts from Sa Ràpita, skirts the saltpans, reaches the western end of Es Trenc and returns along the coast, with virtually no elevation gain. The flat terrain makes it accessible to all fitness levels, though the lack of shade along the beach section means an early start is advisable in summer. The seabed off the beach, with well-preserved posidonia meadows at two to six metres depth, is also popular with snorkellers: clear water lets you watch shoals of salema porgy (Sarpa salpa) and octopuses among the seagrass.