Tour Stop 6: Palma Cemetery and Catacombs

ByAaron Douglass Bailey

Palma’s ‘City of Silence’

Stop 6 — Grand Crem Tour (now international), Palma, Majorca

To Beach Out or to Geek Out?

Sand castles are great, but then there’s the cemetery…

Most people touch down in Majorca and make a beeline for the sea.

I went inland, to a city with hundreds of thousands of people, but not a single one of them alive.

No really – 100 acres and it was just me for hours (except a security guard who clearly thought I was up to no good – as he followed me around for a while – in his air conditioned car, clearly no one would be stupid enough to charge around on foot in this heat…)

After a while I realised why he was suspicious – a tourist in the cemetery is clearly not a common sight here!

I hadn’t expected that – in my mind there would at least be a few who prefer grave stones to skipping stones…

Just me it turns out.

Well they’re missing out – as you’re about to find out.

Taking in the enormity (and the detail)

They call it the ‘City of Silence’ firstly due to it’s urban scale and design – It’s enormous (around 100 acres), divided into sectors. Walking through feels like moving across districts – the old town, the blocks of flats, the grand avenues, the parks and the mansions.

And secondly due to the natural absence of noise and presence of thought in contrast to Palma’s beaches or streets. Here the soundscape is hushed – broken only by the loud Spanish crickets and the bird song in the cypress trees. The silence is emotional: a pause for contemplation you wont find elsewhere in the bustle of Palma city.

At distance, the columbaria look like minimalist tower blocks, motels or even car parks; up close, they transform, teeming with uniqueness, stories and colour. I climbed several of these towers and up and down countless flights of steps.

Monuments appeared upon monuments, where you thought you could see the top, only to find yet another flight of stairs to another huge memorial space.

Ladders at each level were provided for families to get up to the highest niches – the highest I saw must have been 60 or 70 feet in the air.

Frankly – it’s overwhelming – trying to drink in the scale and the craft at the same time. There’s no doubt I missed intricacies and details that would have deepened my experience, but without several days to ponder and stare, it’s impossible to see it all.

A walk through the sectors: 4 → 3 → 2 → 1

One of the most fascinating factors of this cemetery is the layout. As each new architect put their own stamp on the cemetery, over 200 years of growth they created a journey through time, style and emotion. Each sector, carefully segmented and with helpful maps to guide you, had a very different style from the last.

I began in Sector 4, where the grid feels enormous, pragmatic and modern (like a neighbourhood of tower blocks, some smart and pleasant to look at, some not so).

Then I merged into Sector 3, a little looser, more landscaped, more below-ground memorials with large extravagant headstones among carefully landscaped mini-gardens, each plot telling the story of a person or family inside as well as the way those still here feel about them.

One headstone carried a picture of a revolver next to the deceased’s photo – Mallorcan Mafia perhaps?

Here the landscape is varied in elevation – this is where you find the steps that lead to more that lead to more – seemingly never-ending (I certainly didn’t find ‘the end’ or ‘the top’).

Sector 2 tightens to an almost claustrophobic level – rows and rows of very tightly packed headstones – most of them 4 or 5 times bigger than what we commonly see in the UK, tens of thousands of them in a rectangular courtyard.

And then finally sector 1 opens out: boulevards, air and shade, hundreds of huge family mausoleums of every shape, size and style – built around a rectangular shape, the east wall carrying yet more on top of a giant columbarium wall, the centre filled again with thousands of below-ground graves.

The catacombs

At first – I couldn’t find them – but I knew I must be right on top of them.

Consulting the map signs (and a quick google search) and I found the entrance – a staircase drops you below the surface.

The temperature falls; the acoustics change and it gets dark – very dark, but for the pricks of light that knife down through oval openings like theatre spotlights.

Initially, it’s eerie – that’s the truth. You are underground, in the dark, moist, decaying stone tunnels with only tiny spotlights to remind you that it is still a 38 degree Mallorcan summers day right above your head.

But of course you are respectful – this is not ‘The London Dungeons’ or a theatrical set – this is a place of remembrance, personal loss and humanity.

This was infrastructure for hard times (built during a flu epidemic to cope with demand), with dignity designed in. The shutters are still opulent and unique (no two match) and are clearly visited to this day, evident by the modern ornaments placed by some.

Lessons

This journey is about discovery. I enter as a guest, receiving more than I can repay. My way to give back: listen, learn, and share so others can glimpse what these places quietly offer.

  • Cemetery “tourism” works when framed honestly – invite contemplation, not spectacle. In Palma it’s a triple museum of art, emotion and history.
  • Guide people literally – maps and small interpretation points turn curiosity into respect.
  • Scale needn’t feel impersonal; here it reads as community – family, even.
  • The more I learn, the more I realise how much I don’t know – and my curiosity keeps growing.

History & architecture (for readers who want context)

Palma’s municipal cemetery opened on 24 March 1821. The earliest recorded burials (from 1826) lined the circumference wall of today’s Sector 2, arranged in rows and grouped into “cuadros”. Over the decades the grounds expanded, sector by sector. Cementerios Vivos

In 1892 the “new” cemetery was laid out by Tomeu Ferrà, and in the early 20th century Gaspar Bennàzar reshaped Sector 1 as a landscaped promenade with broad avenues and axial views — modern urban design applied to remembrance. The programme culminated in 1938 at the main entrance we see today. Cementerios Vivos

Beneath the surface sits a singular chapter: six gallery-style catacombs created for the 1918 influenza emergency, daylighted by roof openings so the galleries read as solemn chambers rather than storage. The cemetery today comprises seven sections. Show Caves of the World

The site is actively managed by Empresa Funerària Municipal (EFM), which runs guided daytime and nocturnal tours—often with local theatre group Teatritx—opening the space to learning while preserving reverence. efm.palma.esEl Funerario Digital

A notable funerary work on site is the Maneu chapel/mausoleum, designed by Gaspar Bennàzar. AlamyEl Blog de Eloísa

Facts & figures (quick reference)

  • Founded: 24 Mar 1821; first recorded burials: 1826 (Sector 2, along the circumference wall). Cementerios Vivos
  • Planners: Tomeu Ferrà (1892 expansion); Gaspar Bennàzar (early-1900s promenade redesign; key mausolea such as the Maneu chapel). Cementerios VivosEl Blog de Eloísa
  • Layout: Seven sections; includes a distinctive semi-circular complex and six catacomb galleries from 1918 with ramps/stairs and skylights. Show Caves of the World
  • Catalogue: c. 6,000 individual monuments documented in Sectors 1–2 (excludes surface/subterranean niche groups). efm.palma.es
  • Guided visits: Monthly day tours + seasonal night tours in partnership with Teatritx. efm.palma.esTeatritx
  • All Saints’ Day: ~25–30k visitors in recent years, with extended hours and special transport. mallorcainforma.comMallorcadiario.com
  • War grave: One CWGC burial: niche 155, north wall, Group D (directions and hours provided by CWGC). CWGC
  • Memorial of Dignity: New panteón and crypt (Sector 3) for up to 200 victims of Civil-War-era repression, acquired in 2023 by the Balearic Government. revistaadios.es

Notable burials (illustrative, not exhaustive)

  • Josep Maria Llompart (1925–1993), poet and cultural figure — family tomb in Palma (regular commemorations held at the grave). Endrets, Geografia LiteràriadBalears
  • Joan Alcover (1854–1926), poet — grave in the oldest sector; visitors often read “Desolació” at the site. Endrets, Geografia Literària
  • Bonet de San Pedro (1917–2002), singer/composer (“Raska-yú”, “Bajo el cielo de Palma”). Wikipedia
  • Francesc Mateu “Uetam” (tenor), celebrated Mallorcan opera singer — buried at the municipal cemetery (EFM references). FacebookInstagram