Portocolom gears up: Fishermen's huts and quay receive new protection

Portocolom gears up: Fishermen's huts and quay receive new protection

The coastal promenade on the east of the island will be secured step by step this winter

If you stand on a windless morning at the harbor of Portocolom, the smell of the sea mixes with fresh mortar. Craftsmen in weather-beaten jackets push carts, boats rock gently, and seagulls brace themselves against the light northwest wind. In several places you can currently see scaffolding, lifting platforms and construction workers – not the usual summer bustle, but targeted work on something many here care about: the old fishermen's huts and the quay.

The regional government has provided around 10 million euros for the various projects in and around the commercial harbor, part of a broader harbor renovation in Portocolom. The aim is to stabilise the massive stones of the quay, the promenade along Pescadors and Cristòfol Colom streets, and the historic huts. The support pillars at the quay in particular have suffered internal damage because saltwater and storm waves have washed material away over the years.

For the people of Portocolom this is not an abstract monument project. The small huts, mostly built in the early 20th century, still serve as shelter for boats and for storing nets and equipment. Some are only a few steps above the water level, reachable by outside stairs and with a small landing in front of the door. Others have been secured or even fenced off in recent years because their condition was worrying.

There are several groups of these sheds around the bay. In Es Riuetó there are around 90 such huts, while places like Es Babo have much smaller clusters. This variety shapes the image of Portocolom: large and small huts, faded wooden doors, handwritten markings and single boats hanging from a raft. Current work is focused particularly on Sa Bassa Nova and Es Babo.

The measures are technically demanding. Workers come both from land and from the water; floating scaffolds and small workboats are used when the areas are directly on the sea, similar to other winter projects on the island such as When Winter Brings the Excavator: Port d'Alcúdia and Colònia de Sant Jordi Under Renovation. Old landing places that have been unused for years are being restored so they can remain as a testament to the local shipping and fishing tradition.

For the Balearic Port Authority the order is clear: first strengthen the safety-relevant support pillars, then repair the affected sections of the promenade and finally renovate the huts. The prerequisite for rapid progress is the weather. If winter is mild, the authority hopes to complete the work in Sa Bassa Nova and Es Babo before summer.

What does this mean for everyday life here? Walkers along the harbor will see construction sites and occasionally be rerouted. Fishermen will find their places secured again, and the small boat rental businesses can breathe a sigh of relief because landing areas are being repaired, in contrast to operators in Palma who warn of rising harbor fees (Port of Palma Under Pressure: New Harbor Fees Threaten 500 Jobs and the Harbor's Identity). For the restaurants on the pier this means: in the long term more visitors who appreciate the harbor as part of an evening stroll.

A quiet social effect can also be felt: when the streetscape and shore protection are renewed, people's willingness to respect the heritage grows. A café owner on Pescadors street recently told, while clearing his terrace, how his grandmother used to mend nets there. Such everyday stories connect the craft of building with memory and identity.

Viewed more broadly, this project could serve as a model for other coastal towns: preservation instead of gutting, repair instead of demolition. That not only protects building stock, but also jobs and the sense that places like Portocolom retain their uniqueness. Those who stroll along the pier in the coming months will hear hammering, see fresh mortar seams and notice how, stone by stone, a harbor is becoming a place again where fish, boats and people have room.

Finally, a practical tip for visitors: walks along the promenade in the late afternoon are still worthwhile, even if individual sections are cordoned off. The view of the bay, the colorful huts and the workers giving the place new life is its own kind of Mallorca picture — not from a brochure, but real and on site.