Chilling out in Majorca I am just back after a week in Majorca and, I have to reluctantly admit, you probably had better weather here on the Costa Clyde.

In fact, I would go as far as to say it was Baltic in the Balearics! With a cold northerly wind sweeping the island, locals were sensibly wrapped up against the chill, and only tourists bravely ventured out T-shirts and shorts.

We were based in Puerto Pollensa in the north east of the island — a resort I have been to many times. In fact, I first set foot there 40 years ago when many Scots, like myself, were discovering the holiday potential of this (usually) sun-kissed island.

Back then, I wrote that Majorca is an island with two distinct sides, and the same still applies today. If you’re looking for full-on partying, Brit-style pubs, and sizzling sands full of bronzed bodies, then head to the southern resorts. But if you’re keen on a quieter time, and want to take in some of the island’s spectacular scenery, head for the northern side where the holiday beat is less frenetic.

That’s why places such as Puerto Pollensa and Cala San Vicente are so popular with walkers, cyclists and nature enthusiasts.

Despite the cool conditions, we found last week that spring was well advanced in Majorca, with a profusion of wild flowers and hordes of swallows hawking insects over the marshlands south of Puerto Pollensa which are an important nature reserve.

The mountain range, Sierra de Tramuntana, that forms the ‘backbone’ of the island, reaches its north eastern limit at Puerto Pollensa where is it reduced to a line of a craggy hills. A valley running from the resort to the sea is popular with hikers keen to experience the Mediterranean’s flora and fauna.

The terrain is dry and stony, where plants specially adapted for heat and drought are nibbled relentlessly by goats. Ancient walls and stonework hint at man’s efforts at basic agriculture but all are now long abandoned along the valley floor.

It’s a good area for seeing migratory birds heading north for spring and I was lucky enough to get good views of a booted eagle, the Med’s equivalent of our buzzard.

No doubt, I’ll be back.