Cala Mesquida - Cala Torta - Torre d’Albarca - Arenalet d’es Verger - Cami d’en Mondol - Betlem - Colonia de Sant Pere GR 222

Cala Mesquida (bus stop) - Cala Torta - Cala Mitjana - Cala Estreta - Cala Dentol - Cala Matzoc - Torre d’Albarca - Cala de Sa Font Salada - Arenalet d’es Verger - Refugi Arenalet des Verger - Cami d’en Mondol - Cami des Presos - Campament des Soldats - s'Alqueria Vella de Dalt - Ermita de Betlem - Cases de Betlem - Colonia de Sant Pere (bus stop) mostly along GR 222.

Summary:
This very nice track follows the official GR 222 (Ruta Artà - Lluc) from Cala Torta to Refugi Arenalet des Verger and from Cami des Presos.

It passes through the exceptional landscape and almost completely unspoilt coastline of the Llevant peninsula, wandering through the Artà mountains / Serra del Llevant and their gentle slopes, reaching its highest point of 383 m at the Campament des Soldats. The sea is always around the corner and the island Menorca and the Serra de Tramuntana range in a distance when walking in the Natural Park of the Levant Peninsula (Parque Natural de la Peninsula de Llevant).

The track passes beautiful virgin beaches of fine sand bathed by clean, crystalline and turquoise waters, that gives the feeling of having entered a small natural paradise. In addition to the invaluable natural surroundings, along the route the hiker will discover a significant architectural, ethnological and historical heritage. The track is sign-posted with the official GR 222 signs from Cala Torta to Cala Estreta and from s'Arenalet d'Albarca. The path starts and ends at a bus stop and is thus available with public transportation.

The path:
From the bus stop in Cala Mesquida walk 0.5 km towards the sea and follow the Camide Cala Torta path along the coast marked by wooden poles, reaching beautiful Cala Torta after 2.2 km. From Cala Torta the track follows the official and signposted GR 222 to the left of the beach, towards Cala Mitjana, with a slight gradient, while observing in front the Faraló d'Albarca and the Torre des Matzoc. After 2.8 km cross the sandy area in the wonderful Cala Mitjana and then follow the paved road to reach the smaller Cala Estreta after 3.3 km.

Continue along the coast towards the Bay of Alcúdia on the not yet signposted part of GR 222, passing the even smaller Cara Dentol after 3.8 km and after 4.5 km the paradise beach Cala Matzoc and then after 5.5 km the tower Torre d’Albarca / Morro d’Albarca. Enter the tower and enjoy the fabulous 360 degrees views from the top of the tower. Continue along the Mediterranean coast to the sandy beach Cala de Sa Font Salada at 7.4 km. And after 7.9 km to the beach s'Arenalet d’es Verger and after 8.1 km Refugi s'Arenalet des Verger.

From s'Arenalet des Verger in stead of following the GR 222 along the Camí de s'Esquena Llarga road, this paths goes in a southerly direction on the dirt road Cami d’en Mondoi signposted with blue signs and number 6. A little further on, cross the Penya Roja stream and after 10.3 km the road becomes a forest track and after 11.6 km again a dirt road. All in an environment of low vegetation, which turns the area into an excellent vantage point over the coast, from which Menorca can be glimpsed on clear days.

At the end of the climb the Cami d’en Mondoi ends and the path continues on the Camí des Presos (the Prisoners' road), which on the right goes to the Puig de sa Tudosa (442 m) with several communication antennas.
There is a crossroads after 12.6 km where the path is joined by the GR 222 from S'Arenalet d'Albarca along the Camí d'en Mondoi.
Continue on Camí des Presos (now again part of GR 222) until reaching the back of sa Bassa after 13.6 km. Here leave the Camí des Preso road and take the old horse-drawn path that runs parallel to the Camí des Presos and crossing it again after 14.1 km.

Continue to follow the narrow path to the ruins of the Campament des Soldats after 15.0 km. From there the descent is on a narrow path in the forest and direction of s'Alqueria Vella de Baix along the northern slope of Puig del Corb (437 m). After 16.0 km the narrow path continues on a paved road and 0.15 km later leaves this road again into a path signposted to the houses of s'Alqueria Vella de Dalt (278 m) at the bottom of the valley. Continue on the Cami Vell road and onto a narrower track.

The descent becomes gentler, crosses the stream and passes by a sine and two buildings.
The itinerary passes the remains of the establishments of s'Alqueria, in a very bad state due to abandonment and the fires that have also affected them.
The views are again very nice from the Coll de sa Truja (342 m).

The route continues along the side of the mountain, between pinotells and gatoves, until one reaches a crossroads with a wider path, which one finds near the s'Ermita orchard, where the path detours to the left to enjoy the shade of the large banana trees of the fountain Font des Ermita after 19.5 km and reach the hermitage Eremita de Betlem after 20.0 km.

The main route continues to the right, in the direction of the Pas des Grau (21.5 km), a narrow pass (195 m) that one finds after passing a lime kiln and a gate. From here, the descent accelerates. Leave a dam on the side designed to prevent the torrent from returning and reach a fork, and choose the path to the right, in the direction of the sea, which allows one to pass by the houses of the possession and the Casa Betlem after 22.8 km.

Cross the road that connects Colonia de Sant Pere and Bethlehem and follow the GR 222 signposts down to the sea and then turning left and following the ocean. The GR 222 path passes Ca los Camps beach (24.8 km), s’Arenalet de Son Colom beach (25.6 km), Torre de Sant Pere (26.0 km) and then follows Cami de Ca los Camps, before reaching Colonia de Sant Pere with the Passeig de la Mar (27.1 km), Platja de la Colonia / Sa Platgeta beach (27.5 km), Moll de la Colonia (27.7 km) and ending at the Colonia de Sant Pere bus station (27.84 km).

Cala Torta, Cala Mitjana & Cala Estreta:
The waters at the beautiful beaches can be treacherous but are always clear with a fantastic turquoise colour that invites one to take a swim. The strong winds from the north and northeast, dominant in the area, have favored the formation of these sands, delimited by rocky outcrops of great geological interest. Close to the coast we find the Marès stone, formed by grains of sand, remains of fossil dunes that originated about 2.5 million years ago, when the sea level was higher. Older are the greyish-coloured rocks (margocalcareous, the experts call them) and the pink-coloured or dolomites, which originated around 150 million years ago.

Torre d'Albarca:
Torre d'Albarca or des Matzocs is a defense tower built in 1751 to monitor the maritime area between Mallorca and Menorca since at that time the neighboring island of Menorca was occupied by the British. It is part of the chain of surveillance points that surrounded the entire island of Mallorca. It is a two-story circular building and is in a very good state of conservation. It is possible to access and climb to the deck where one of the tower's cannons is still located. From the deck the views are unbeatable and you can see the island of Menorca. Currently it has been declared an Asset of Cultural Interest.

Refugi de s’Arenalet:
It is the former summer house of the owners of Albarca, today converted into a refuge. It is located a few meters from the beach of S'Arenalet d'Albarca which, thanks to the isolation, preserves the dune formations in good condition, with an abundance of sea thistles and milk thistles.

Camí des Presos (Prisoners’ road):
Road built with the intention of installing an anti-aircraft defense battery on the Puig de sa Tudossa, a project that was unfinished and on which hundreds of republican prisoners worked alone between 1941 and 1943. Along the way one can see numerous remains linked to the construction, such as some cisterns or the forges where the tools were tempered.

Campament des Soldats:
In this place, the republicans who were retaliated against after the Spanish Civil War, who worked under forced labor in the construction of the Camí des Presos, and their guards lived badly. It consisted of a weapons yard surrounded by four buildings intended for troops and officers, a warehouse and a stable. The prisoners, who lived in painful conditions and received very poor food, were housed first in tents and then in construction barracks with thatched roofs.

The establishments of s’Alqueria Vella:
The large number of houses, walls and cisterns in ruins that one observes along the route are what remains of an agricultural colony founded in 1880 by the Homar family and which covered 400 hectares. It was created at a time of great population growth, in accordance with a law that exempted the new farmers from paying the contribution for some years and from doing military service, for them, their children and their workers. With great effort, vines, fig trees and almond trees were planted there, but the profitability was very low and when the law ceased to be in force and did not offer any advantage, they were abandoned.

S’Alqueria Vella de Baix & Parc Natural de Llevant:
The houses of the former possession, public since 2000, are today the information center of the Park which covers 1,400 hectares and where one can find, in addition to the Artà-Lluc GR 222 Route, several itineraries to discover its environmental values, historical and ethnological.

Ermita de Betlem:
It was founded in 1805 on the remains of the Binialgorfa farmhouse, abandoned after pirates captured its inhabitants. The hermits of the order of Saint Anthony and Saint Paul settled in these rugged and wild lands, and had to face harsh conditions of austerity and extreme poverty that even caused the death of one of them. Having overcome this period of hardship, the community remained there until a few years ago, in a circle of peace that has lasted to this day.

Devesa de Ferrutx:
The lands that surround us were part of the devesa de Ferrutx, a great inheritance where the ephemeral dynasty of the kings of Mallorca had their private hunting ground during the 14th century. Great fans of falconry repopulated it with partridges, hares and pheasants, but also with deer and wild boar, which are protected by law.

Betlem:
Property acquired by the Balearic Government in 2018. The houses, built during the 19th century, are uninhabited and on the edge is the quarter of Bethlehem, which was related to the coastal battery located on the other side of the road, also abandoned.

Colonia de Sant Pere:
Population nucleus that has its origin in the agricultural colonization plan of the Spanish State which, at the end of the 19th century, encouraged the subdivision of marginal land which, in this case, was intended for vineyards and almond trees. At the same time, a town with a grid structure was created which, from the 1960s onwards, developed as a tourist destination.

The government’s web-page on this stage of the GR 222 in English:
https://caminsdepedra.conselldemallorca.cat/en/-/etapa-2-arenalet-d-albarca-betlem

The government’s guidebook on this stage of the GR 222 in Catalan:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WXdXgwlFY_Rsl1WtpVL5wliggPUHnOUC/view

Public transportation from/to Palma:
- Bus 401 Cala Millor to Molí-Hospital, from there bus 411 Cala Rajada to Capdepera and from there bus 422 Cala Mesquida.
- Bus 421 Arta from Colonia de Sant Pere to Arta, from there bus 411 Manacor to Molí-Hospital and from there bus 401 Palma.
Note: Bus 422 is only a Summer route operating April-October.