The story behind the windmills of Mallorca
As you travel around the island of Mallorca you might well find yourself asking “Why are there so many windmills in Mallorca?” or even “How many windmills are there in Mallorca?”
And you’d be right to be curious – as Mallorca boasts the highest concentration of windmills anywhere in the world! with an estimated total of over 3200.
Types of windmills in Mallorca
There are two main types of windmill in Mallorca.
- FLOUR MILLS (Molins Fariners) used for the grinding of grains into flour.
These mills are constructed from traditional stone towers featuring six wooden-framed lattice blades fitted with cloth sails. These larger mills are often to be found in elevated positions to take advantage of higher winds, especially the locally named “Embat” & “Tramuntana”. Originally stand alone buildings, later versions began to be built on top of dwelling houses for the millers family.
There is evidence of these mills being in existence since before the Christian conquest in the 13th century & therefore were introduced by the Moors along with agricultural terracing (the mills first appeared around the 8th century in Persia)
Today there are still over 600 Molins Fariners standing and some have been preserved as houses, restaurants or museums.
You can visit windmill museums in Palma (Es Jonquet), Molí d’en Fraret (Manacor), Museu Arqueològic de Son Fornés (Montuïri) & Molí d’en Gaspar (Llucmajor)
- 2. WATER PUMPING MILLS (Molins D’Aigua)
These are the more common smaller fan-like mills that litter the fields of the countryside and which have become an iconic emblem of the island. Featuring a series of wooden blades or “ramells” these mills were first introduced in the mid 19th century by a Dutch engineer named Paul Bouvij. Along with a French geologist Paul Verniere they came up with a plan to drain the mosquito infested lagoons on the outskirts of Palma (Pla de st Jordi) in order to diminish the Malaria plague.
This is the area to the east of Palma where the airport & industrial estates now sit.
In a short time the useless swampy land was turned into a fertile agricultural plain, and over time the mill’s primary use changed from draining the fields to supplying them with water to irrigate the crops.
In the north of Mallorca on the outskirts of Sa Pobla a similar massive project was undertaken. In 1863, British engineers John and William Bateman-Hope launched an ambitious industrial project to drain the disease-ridden, mosquito-infested S’Albufera marsh to convert it into productive farmland. They constructed an extensive network of straight canals, dykes, sluice gates, and wind-powered pumps. Windmills were installed across the wetland boundaries to lift and push excess water out of the low-lying marsh basins and into the drainage canals leading to the sea.
They had some success and successfully dried portions of the wetland, allowing profitable farming and rice paddies to operate for several decades. Despite their best efforts however, ultimately this particular endeavour failed.
However rice is still produced in small quantities and sold as “Sa Pobla” rice – it is a good quality bombeta rice suitable for paellas & the local “arroz brut”.
In the 1870’s the now familiar “arrow-head” tail was added to the design, so that they automatically took advantage of the prevailing wind rather than needing to be moved manually. Later on the wooden blades were replaced with steel (molins de ferro)
Today many mills are left to decay as the use of electric or diesel pumps is simpler and cheaper to maintain.
Where does all the water come from?
Mallorca does not have any true rivers or lakes, but it has enough water for its thousands of small windmills because they tap into vast, porous underground water-bearing rock layers called aquifers, which collect and store heavy winter rainwater beneath the island’s flat plains.
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How do the aquifers work?
- Porous rock: The flat lowlands, like the Pla de Sant Jordi, are made of soft limestone and sediment that act like a giant underground sponge.
- Winter rain: Heavy seasonal rains soak deep into the ground. This refills the water table instead of running off into rivers (the island has very few permanent surface rivers).
- Shallow water table: In these specific agricultural zones, the groundwater sits quite close to the surface, making it easy for a simple wind pump to reach.
How is the water supply managed?
- Individual mills: sat on top of their own private wells, meaning they were not all pumping water from a single pocket of water.
- Storage reservoirs: Farmers stored the water in small reservoirs called safareigs so they could water their crops later in the dry season.
- Over-pumping risks: Pumping was sustainable for traditional farming, but heavy modern use (often blamed on the tourism industry) has caused problems. Pulling too much water out faster than the rain can refill it has lowered the water table and made some underground water salty as it sucks in water from the surrounding seas.
Today the “FAN” shopping centre near the airport pays homage to the historic contribution made to the island of Mallorca, preserving a “moli de ferro” in it’s car park & using a stylised version of it for it’s logo.
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