Las Barracas, Mallorca, Spain
If you are looking for something a little different, something where the non-shooting members of the team will be equally as happy as the shooting members, where you will enjoy wonderful cuisine, warm and normally sunny weather, then Las Barracas may be the red letter experience. And that’s before we mention the shooting!
The 1,000 hectare estate has belonged to the Rossinol family for many years and is being put back to its former glory by Miguel and his daughter Sio. They have been developing the shoot over the last 5 years under the watchful guidance of their partner, Carlos Rua, who has for many years been successfully running partridge shoots in mainland Spain and Morocco.
Las Barracas is located close to the town of Calvia which lies 20 minutes from Palma. The guns are lined out in the bottom of some surprisingly steep pine clad valleys, which many years ago were terraced with wonderful stone walls, restoration of which is an ongoing process. One of the main valleys is known as ‘Abuelo’ or Grandfather, because an ancient Olive tree, said to be over 1,000 years old, still stands in the valley today.
The owners have taken great care to make the most of some stunning sea views from the high ground and have built what they call ‘Miradors’ where wonderful Tapas lunches are laid on for their guests. Much of the local seafood and produce from the island is used in the delicious cuisine which the chef Vincente creates.
As the estate is located so close to Palma, many teams elect to stay in the Old Town of Palma in one of the many small boutique hotels and make the most of some fabulous restaurants in the evenings. It is an ideal place for non-shooting guests to join in on the fun with the historical and beautiful Old Town to explore, with guided walks in the surrounding mountains or joining the guns on the shoot. There is also a wonderful country house hotel within 5kms of the estate with a large Spa and 100 acres of land for those who prefer to get away from it all.
The normal bag size for Las Barracas is 500 birds per day but between the middle of November and the middle of January smaller 300 bird days are available which is rather unique.
We recommend visiting Las Barracas between 1st October and the end of April when the weather is more comfortable for shooting.