Son Bunyola

The houses of Son Bunyola, as we know them today, are the result of numerous changes and refurbishments throughout history. Before the Aragonese conquest, there was a farmhouse, the Alquería de la Torre, in the area of the current Son Bunyola estate.

Originally, the estate belonged to the Zafortesa family. In 1710, when the estate belonged to Isabel Zafortesa i Berga, it had houses, orchards, vineyards, olive groves and scrubland. At that time, she also owned Son Valentí and Son Balaguer, the neighbouring estates of Son Bunyola.

At the end of the 19th century, Archduke Luis Salvador mentions Son Bunyola and describes it briefly: “It consists of a square tower covered with a roof. In front of the house was a terraced field with two storerooms, from which there was a very beautiful view”. He had the impression that it was obviously prepared for defence, as it had not only a tower but also a machicolation over the arch of the entrance. “A small bridge, now in ruins, led from the front wing of the building to the adjacent tower”

In 1931, Josep Puig i Canals, a businessman from Sóller who was dedicated to the biscuit industry in Venezuela, acquired the property. During this decade, the last modifications were carried out on the houses, including the extension of the main building, the renovation of the exterior and interior walls, the construction of the modern tower, the construction of the cistern and the patio, and the construction of the northwest block to house the oil mill and other agricultural buildings.

Even though this is an historical restoration of a listed building, where it is necessary to stick to the existing building, all possible strategies for environmental protection, sustainability and energy saving have been implemented. From high-performance thermal insulation in the walls, where possible, to high-performance air conditioning units with heat recovery. Energy for the entire complex is generated by a biomass boiler fed by the pruning waste and forest masses produced on the site itself.

Special attention has been paid to the water cycle, a scarce resource on the island of Mallorca. The hotel’s drinking water comes from its own wells and from a large cistern at the foot of the mountain. In order to achieve a larger storage volume, all of the property’s existing water cisterns were restored. All the rainwater that falls on the roofs and terraces is collected and stored in these cisterns, recovering the estate’s original hydraulic strategy of collecting as much rainwater as possible.

In addition, the hotel will have its own water purification system so that 100% of the wastewater can be purified and reused to irrigate the gardens, eliminating the need for sewage.