Sineu sits right in the middle of the island, and Wednesday is the day the whole surrounding countryside meets there. The market is reckoned the oldest on Mallorca, a privilege granted by King Jaume II in 1306, and to this day it has not become a tourist market, even if the coaches roll in from ten o’clock. Get there early and you see what it was made for.
Nine o’clock on the livestock square
Down at the edge of the village, on the square by the old station, stand the cages and pens: chickens, rabbits, ducks, goats, sometimes a donkey and almost always a few black pigs, the porc negre, that sobrassada is made from. Here people still haggle, and a handshake is a contract. It is loud, it smells, it is real. Our guests always stand there ten minutes longer than they meant to.
Then up to the church
The lanes climb the hill to the church of Santa Maria with the winged lion in front of it. Left and right are stalls with vegetables from the field, olives, cheese, ensaimada, leather goods and pottery from Pòrtol. If you like pa amb oli, buy tomatoes, oil and bread here and eat it on a bench in front of the church. If you would rather be comfortable, sit down in one of the cellers, the old wine cellars with their huge barrels, and order frit mallorquí.
There and back by bike
On the Sternfahrt Ariany/Sineu, Wednesday is deliberately the shortest stage: 40 kilometres, so that plenty is left over for the market. If you are staying in Sineu, you walk. If you are in Ariany or Petra, it is ten flat kilometres. And if you are coming from further away, take the train from Palma or Manacor; the station is right by the livestock square. Bikes travel free.
One more tip: bring a pannier with room in it. More comes back every time than you intended. Ride well, your Radundfinca team
