PALMA DE MALLORCA MALLORCA Monserrat Pons has been travelling and collecting fig trees from all over the world for 40 years. His plantation stret-ches off into the horizon and dotted here and there are the 240 varieties native to the Balearic Islands. However, there’s also a small walled enclosure where he keeps “the best of every batch”. This is a museum of sorts where, over the years, Monserrat has been treasuring iconic fig varieties, including trees that provided shade for writers and poets like Miguel Hernández, who sat and wrote beneath the variety known as Pajarera. Federico García Lorca chose the Breva, while Rosalía de Castro was inspired by the shade of the Migueles fig tree, native to Galicia. The collection includes the Gethsemane variety, which would have been growing on Mount Calvary and the Mount of Olives as well as in the Garden of Gethsemane during Jesus’s time. Next to it is the Black Fig, native to Bolivia and witness to the shooting of Ernesto Che Guevara. Only a few metres away, the ancient Bodhi or tree of wisdom is the sacred fig tree of Buddhism, under which the Buddha Siddhartha reached divine enlightenment. An image of Buddha wrapped in an orange cloth rests against its trunk. The monks change the cloth once a month, when they visit it and meditate next to it. A fruit of philosophical origin The owner’s profession as a pharmacist was a decisive fac-tor in turning Son Mut Nou into an experimental farm to study and promote scientific research on fig trees. The fig tree has intimate connections to Mediterranean civilisation, to Monserrat Pons’ homeland of Majorca and to his own life experience. His most emotive fig tree is that of a dear friend who had a garden in Crimea and was killed in the first bom-bing raid of the war. Illustrious figures have come to Son Mut Nou attracted by the original project, from chef Carme Ruscalleda to the first lady of Malaysia, a lover of fig trees and a regular visitor to the plantation. The sweet, honeyed taste of figs has captivated the palate of great philosophers; it’s said that both Plato and Diogenes loved figs, which also have a series of nutritional properties as they’re rich in vitamin B6, vitamin C and fibre. The gastronomy aspect of figs can’t be ignored either: “We do quite well financially in the summer when people come here to pick figs. We give them a basket and the chance to spend a pleasant and different kind of day picking the figs they like the most” says Monserrat, as he proudly shows the farm shop where figs have been transformed into chutney, mustard, paté, beer, wine, cava, jam and Majorca’s much-lo-ved delicacy, fig cake. “Our star product is fig coffee; we leave the fruit to dry in the sun for 18 days before it goes into the oven. This process is done by our neighbour Andreu Genestra, a Michelin Green Star. Andreu uses figs in his cooking for sau-ces and desserts”. Fig coffee has a mild liquorice flavour and the advantage of being caffeine-free, while fig tea is brewed with fig leaves and cinnamon. Monserrat Pons’ work reveals the importance of figs in Majorcan culture. “Friar Junipero Serra took the fig tree that’s known nowadays as Franciscana from here in Majorca to California”. It isn’t just a tree, it’s a historic legacy. La tienda de productos relacionados con el higo que tiene. // ENG The farm shop selling fig products. PALMA DE MALLORCA Vuelos // Flights: La isla balear está conectada gracias a Air Europa dos veces al día con Ali-cante, cinco veces al día con Barcelona, seis veces al día con Madrid y dos al día Valencia. A la semana, oferta tres frecuencias con Málaga y otras cuatro con Granada y Bilbao; mientras que con Zaragoza tiene dos vuelos a la semana. Con París, la isla está conectada hasta cuatro veces a la se-mana. // Thanks to Air Europa, the Balearic island is connected twice a day with Alicante, five times a day with Barcelona, six times a day with Madrid and twice a day with Valencia. Air Europa also offers three frequencies a week with Malaga and another four with Granada and Bilbao. There are two flights a week between the island and Zaragoza and up to four connec-tions a week with Paris. www.aireuropa.com