The Mallorca Files returns for season 2 with The Balearic Islands as it's sunny backdrop
The Balearic island’s idyllic coves and caves steal the show in the BBC’s sun-kissed detective drama…
Claire Webb - 23 January 2021
If you’re craving sunshine and escapism then look no further than The Mallorca Files, BBC1’s light-hearted buddy cop show set on the Balearic island. It stars Elen Rhys and Austrian actor Julian Looman as an ill-matched detective duo who bicker and flirt as they solve crimes. The second series begins this week and, like the first, it’s crammed with ravishing scenery, from the honey-hued streets of Palma and Pollença to the mighty Serra de Tramuntana mountain range.
“Lots of people were really surprised by the first series and asked if it was all filmed on Mallorca,” says Rhys, who plays uptight British sleuth DC Blake. “People associate it with Magaluf and partying, but that’s only one side of the island. Every day, everywhere we filmed, it was like, ‘Woah!’ – it’s a really beautiful place.” Rhys decamped to Mallorca with her oneyear-old son last January to film the second series. “I had a lovely apartment in Palma, on the outskirts of the old town, overlooking the water. It’s a gorgeous city, and it was so nice to simply wander around at weekends.” How else did she spend her days off? “Eating and drinking! The quality of produce is so good that the simplest dishes are totally delicious and the seafood is phenomenal. One of my favourite places to eat was Mercat de Santa Catalina, a massive fish market with lots of little independent vendors. You choose your fish and they cook it for you however you want, while you sit there with a glass of beer or cava.” The seven-month shoot was curtailed by the first lockdown last March, but the team hopes to return later this year to film a third series – and Rhys for one can’t wait. “It’s a very special place and it really does feel like home now. I miss it so badly.” It’s not hard to see why…
Explore the caves
In Monday’s episode, an opera star is murdered in the Drach Caves, a vast cave complex adorned with dramatically lit stalactites and stalagmites. “It’s a brilliant way to kick off the series because it’s so stunning.” says Rhys. “There’s a big lake and an amphitheatre down there and they hold fantastic floating concerts.” Tours include a boat trip on the underground lake and a classical music performance. cuevasdeldrach.com
A stairway to heaven
In Wednesday’s episode, DC Blake chases a suspect up the town of Pollença’s famous Calvari stairway - 365 steps that lead to a chapel and are the setting for a silent, torchlit parade on Good Friday. “We were running up and down them all day long, which was hell! When you get to the top, there are fantastic views over the town and the ocean.” After conquering them, visitors can enjoy Pollença’s tangle of boutique-lined lanes and convivial café-flanked square.
Picturesque peninsula
Mallorca’s most dramatic drive is the steep, twisting road that ends at Cap de Formentor, a rocky finger of land that points to Menorca. “It’s where the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range meets the Mediterranean and the views are breathtaking,” says Rhys. The peninsula is the northern tip of the island and we filmed at its old lighthouse in the first season.”
The wild (north) west
In next Monday’s episode (8 Feb), the detectives pursue their man on horseback and trot through the craggy gorges near the Bay of Alcúdia, a string of popular beaches on the north coast. “Look out for a scene where Julian looks like he’s about to fall off his horse as it canters away and his hat blows off. It might look planned, but it wasn’t at all!”
Ride the Orange Express
In the first series, Winter and Blake are faced with the case of a German model who seemingly disappears from the Tren de Sóller, a wooden train that runs from Palma to Sóller, a grand town tucked away in the Tramuntana mountains. Known as the Orange Express, the 100-year-old railway originally transported citrus fruit to the capital. “It was really fun to get the chance to film on the train, but we were stuck in a tunnel for three days and some of the crew found it a bit claustrophobic!”
A hidden cove
Of all the island’s many delights, Rhys’s favourite place is Cala del Mago, a tiny cove lapped by shallow crystalline sea a few miles south of Magaluf. The detectives find a getaway boat there in an episode about a Russian oligarch in the first series. “On my days off, I would often go to the beach and this beautiful whitesand cove is only accessible by foot, which is probably why it’s off the beaten track.”
If you’re craving sunshine and escapism then look no further than The Mallorca Files, BBC1’s light-hearted buddy cop show set on the Balearic island. It stars Elen Rhys and Austrian actor Julian Looman as an ill-matched detective duo who bicker and flirt as they solve crimes. The second series begins this week and, like the first, it’s crammed with ravishing scenery, from the honey-hued streets of Palma and Pollença to the mighty Serra de Tramuntana mountain range.
“Lots of people were really surprised by the first series and asked if it was all filmed on Mallorca,” says Rhys, who plays uptight British sleuth DC Blake. “People associate it with Magaluf and partying, but that’s only one side of the island. Every day, everywhere we filmed, it was like, ‘Woah!’ – it’s a really beautiful place.” Rhys decamped to Mallorca with her oneyear-old son last January to film the second series. “I had a lovely apartment in Palma, on the outskirts of the old town, overlooking the water. It’s a gorgeous city, and it was so nice to simply wander around at weekends.” How else did she spend her days off? “Eating and drinking! The quality of produce is so good that the simplest dishes are totally delicious and the seafood is phenomenal. One of my favourite places to eat was Mercat de Santa Catalina, a massive fish market with lots of little independent vendors. You choose your fish and they cook it for you however you want, while you sit there with a glass of beer or cava.” The seven-month shoot was curtailed by the first lockdown last March, but the team hopes to return later this year to film a third series – and Rhys for one can’t wait. “It’s a very special place and it really does feel like home now. I miss it so badly.” It’s not hard to see why…
Explore the caves
In Monday’s episode, an opera star is murdered in the Drach Caves, a vast cave complex adorned with dramatically lit stalactites and stalagmites. “It’s a brilliant way to kick off the series because it’s so stunning.” says Rhys. “There’s a big lake and an amphitheatre down there and they hold fantastic floating concerts.” Tours include a boat trip on the underground lake and a classical music performance. cuevasdeldrach.com
A stairway to heaven
In Wednesday’s episode, DC Blake chases a suspect up the town of Pollença’s famous Calvari stairway - 365 steps that lead to a chapel and are the setting for a silent, torchlit parade on Good Friday. “We were running up and down them all day long, which was hell! When you get to the top, there are fantastic views over the town and the ocean.” After conquering them, visitors can enjoy Pollença’s tangle of boutique-lined lanes and convivial café-flanked square.
Picturesque peninsula
Mallorca’s most dramatic drive is the steep, twisting road that ends at Cap de Formentor, a rocky finger of land that points to Menorca. “It’s where the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range meets the Mediterranean and the views are breathtaking,” says Rhys. The peninsula is the northern tip of the island and we filmed at its old lighthouse in the first season.”
The wild (north) west
In next Monday’s episode (8 Feb), the detectives pursue their man on horseback and trot through the craggy gorges near the Bay of Alcúdia, a string of popular beaches on the north coast. “Look out for a scene where Julian looks like he’s about to fall off his horse as it canters away and his hat blows off. It might look planned, but it wasn’t at all!”
Ride the Orange Express
In the first series, Winter and Blake are faced with the case of a German model who seemingly disappears from the Tren de Sóller, a wooden train that runs from Palma to Sóller, a grand town tucked away in the Tramuntana mountains. Known as the Orange Express, the 100-year-old railway originally transported citrus fruit to the capital. “It was really fun to get the chance to film on the train, but we were stuck in a tunnel for three days and some of the crew found it a bit claustrophobic!”
A hidden cove
Of all the island’s many delights, Rhys’s favourite place is Cala del Mago, a tiny cove lapped by shallow crystalline sea a few miles south of Magaluf. The detectives find a getaway boat there in an episode about a Russian oligarch in the first series. “On my days off, I would often go to the beach and this beautiful whitesand cove is only accessible by foot, which is probably why it’s off the beaten track.”
CLAIRE WEBB