Celebrities of Majorca

It is an island that is most well known as the number one European destination for cheap holidays, but Majorca has also been associated with the rich and famous for centuries. The Spanish Royal Family have a palace and go on holiday in Majorca every year, and there are numerous other celebrities, past and present, who have chosen to make the island their home for at least part of the year. Alongside sunbathing, watersports and clubbing, celeb spotting can be an entertaining activity for those on a cheap holiday in Majorca; keep your eyes peeled for some of these famous residents...

Current Celebrity Residents

Majorca was the playground of Spain's rich and famous long before it became a popular holiday for the rest of Europe. Nowadays it isn't just rich Spaniards who make the island their second home - after their holidays in Majorca, many celebrities like the place so much that they decide to stay! Rather than spend their time on the island in one of the hotels in Majorca, these celebrities choose to build or buy mansions and luxury villas on the island.

Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas have a residence on the north of the island, and Irish actor Colm Meany also spends part of the year on the island. Other famous residents include musicians (ABBA's Frida and Annie Lennox), sports stars (Steve MacManaman and Boris Becker) the model Claudia Schiffer (who recently caused a stir by erecting a massive fence around her villa to keep out prying eyes), and the (in)famous nightclub owner Peter Stringfellow.

Famous Majorcans

The island isn't just famous for foreign celebrities who have decided to extend their holidays in Majorca indefinitely; a number of native Majorcans have gone on to achieve fame and fortune on the international stage.

Clay court master and Grand Slam tennis champion Rafael Nadal was born in the district of Manacor on the island. Majorca seems to have a pedigree of producing top tennis players, as the island was also the birthplace of former world number 1 Carlos Moya, who grew up in Palma. Majorca has also produced some famous Spanish leaders (General Joaquin Jovellar y Soler and former Spanish Prime Minister Antonio Maura Montaner), the writer Ramon Llull and the 19th century Franciscan Friar Junípero Serra, who founded a series of missions in California.

Historical Figures

The island has also been the home of a number of writers and artists over the centuries. One of the most famous residents of the island was the English poet and novelist Robert Graves, who moved to Majorca in 1926 with his lover, the poet Laura Riding, after Graves published his First World War memoir Goodbye to All That. He first visited on holiday in Majorca, and then decided to make the island his permanent residence.

The French writer George Sand and Polish composer Frederic Chopin spent time together on the island when they were a couple, renting space in a monastery while on holiday in Majorca.