Welcome To Deya | Home

Although being one of the smallest and remotest municipalities on the island, the area is widely regarded as being the cultural centre of Majorca. Instead of all the night clubs and karaoke bars so popular in the southern resorts, you're more likely to find it's the musuems and art galleries that attract visitors here.

Most, if not all, of the visitors to the village are independent travellers who prefer to make the short 30/40 minute trip inland from the airport either by taxi or hire car. The few tour operators that do go here describe the village as being “small and exclusive”, but perhaps many don’t actually realise how small it really is.

The latest census shows a resident population of the 15km2 that make up the municipality, of just 840 people, and little has really changed over the past years to increase this figure. In fact if we are honest, little has really changed in the village for the past 150 years!

Deya is surrounded by narrow terraces that have for centuries been cultivated with olive and citrus trees, these and the old village church standing proud over the stone houses, will be a familiar and comforting sight for anyone returning to the village.

The skyline above the village is dominated by the imposing the mountain Teix, which is pronounced locally as "tesh", and at 1062m above sea level is the second highest mountain on Majorca. For those intested in statistics, the highest mountain on the island is the "Puig Mayor", overlooking nearby Soller, at 1445m above sea level.

A settlement on this site can be traced back to pre-historic times, although a recognisable village really only began to take shape under the Moorish rule of the island between the 10th and 12th Century. The first tourists to Deya first began to arrive in the late 19th Century, even in those days attracted by the prospect of peace, solitude and outstanding scenery.

One of the first visitors to Deya was the Archduke Luís Salvador of Austria, who was responsible for the construction of many of the impressive manor houses in the area. A trend followed more recently by the British businessman Richard Branson, who refurbished the stately houses of Son Moragues and Son Canal to create the best known hotel in the area, the very exclusive La Residencia.

Over the past Century, the village has welcomed a number of celebrity guests, including the English poet and novelist Robert Graves who first bought property there in 1932 with his mistress Laura Riding, and then subsequently returned there to live in 1946 with his second wife Beryl Hodge. The Parish church in Deya is where Graves was buried after his death in 1985, his simple headstone inscribed in the drying concrete reading "Robert Graves, Poeta, 1895-1985".

More recently in 1962 the American painter and archaeologist Dr. William H. Waldren also founded the Deià Archaeological Museum and Research Centre in the town, which we cover in greater detail on our Attractions and Amenities pages.

Without a doubt the most famous foreign residents, that currently own property around Deya, are Michael Douglas and his wife Catherine Zeta Jones, who are often known to visit their fabulous villa in the town during the summer months.

In all fairness, other than the numerous visitors who arrive throughout the day on the tour buses, most of the visitors here are middle aged couples who are attracted by the cultural heritage of the area and chose Deya as a base to escape into the Serra de Tramuntana mountains along the network of paths and tracks that cover the area.

It has to be said that Deya is particularly unsuitable for those with mobility problems. The streets are very narrow and very steep, and certainly no concessions or consideration is given to disabled access.

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