What is a finca in Mallorca?

A finca is a rural property with land. The word means an estate or holding in Spanish, and in Mallorca it has come to mean a stone farmhouse, often a few centuries old, standing in its own olives, almonds, carob or vines. When you rent a finca you usually rent the whole of it. There is no reception desk, and the nearest neighbour is usually a field away. The houses were built for farming families, so the walls are thick, the ceilings are beamed, the floors are tile or stone, and the rooms are cool in summer. A finca is the island’s countryside, with a pool.

What is the difference between a finca, a villa and an agroturismo?

A villa is a house built for holidays. It is often on the coast, often modern, and it may share a road or a wall with others like it. The word says nothing about land.

An agroturismo is a working or former farm converted into a small hotel. You book a room, there are other guests, breakfast is served at set hours, and there is staff on site. Some are very good. You do not have the place to yourself.

A finca, as the word is used for rentals, is usually the whole estate let to one group. Ours at Sencelles is two houses, a main house for 10 and a guest house for 2, on a seven and a half hectare estate with olives, a fruit garden, a lavender garden and a 10 metre saltwater pool. Book both houses and the whole estate is yours; in July, August, Christmas and New Year that is guaranteed. At other times the guest house may be let to other guests, and then the pool is shared. We say so up front, because that is the distinction that matters for a family or a group.

What should we expect from a finca?

Space. Rooms that open onto a courtyard or a porch. A kitchen built for cooking, not for show. A pool that is used all day. Morning light in the olives and evening light across the plain. Birds, and in summer cicadas. Fruit to pick when it is in season, which here runs from oranges in winter to pomegranates in October.

Expect also the things that come with old buildings in the countryside. Lanes that are narrow. Water that is precious. Wi-Fi that varies widely from one property to another, which is why ours is 300 Mbps and worth asking about anywhere. Pools that are rarely fenced. Ours starts shallow, which helps with small children, but it is not fenced, and we say so.

Most fincas are inland. Sencelles is 25 minutes from Palma, 20 from the airport, and 20 from the nearest coves. That is typical, and it is the trade: a quieter base, a short drive to the sea.

What should we ask before booking a finca for a group?

Ask how many it sleeps in beds, not on sofas, and how the bedrooms are split between buildings. Ask whether the pool is fenced, heated or neither. Ask about the Wi-Fi speed and whether it reaches the bedrooms. Ask whether you have exclusive use or whether the owner lives on site. Ask what the kitchen is actually equipped for, and whether a chef can be arranged. Ask what the lane is like for a large car or a van. Ask what the noise rules are if you plan an evening with music, and until what hour. Ask who to call at nine on a Sunday evening if something stops working.

Ask what grows there. It tells you a great deal about how the place is kept.

See the two houses, the gardens and the pool at /the-finca, read how a stay runs at /stay, or ask us the questions above.