It was love at first sight for Sir Richard Branson. When the Virgin group founder first set eyes on the sprawling Son Bunyola Estate running down to Mallorca’s north-west coast from the Tramuntana mountains, he knew “immediately wanted to bring it back to life”.
It joins a raft of chic new properties opening across this Balearic island, which is experiencing a wave of luxury that couldn’t be more different from the time when Mallorca’s main reputation was for tacky tourism in Magaluf. “Mallorca has had a complete renaissance, with luxury, individuality and sustainability at the forefront of this reinvention,” he says.