Palma

Palma is the refit capital of the western Mediterranean and the place a large part of the fleet spends the winter. That changes the job. In Antibes you provision for guests on a turnaround. In Palma you are just as likely to be feeding crew on a boat on the hard at STP through the winter, then loading for the season when the yard period ends. The town covers both. Two covered markets sit inside walking distance of the yachts, a wholesale market and a cash and carry are a short drive out, and the yacht provisioners deliver to the dock.

The thing to learn first is the clock. Palma runs on Spanish hours. The markets trade from 7:00 and shut by 15:00. The wholesale market at Mercapalma is done by 13:00. Small shops close for the afternoon and reopen in the evening, and most of the town is shut on Sunday. Start a ground run at 14:00 and you will find the shutters down.

Two facts shape the rest. First, Spain is in the EU, so everything you buy retail carries IVA, the Spanish VAT, and tax-free supply for a charter yacht runs through the EU bonded-stores regime and an agent. Second, Mallorca is an island. Palma airport (PMI) is 8 km east of the city, and anything that is not grown, caught or stocked on the island arrives by ferry from the mainland or by air. Ask for a lead time on every specialty order.

Section 0: The First Phone Calls

Listen to your captain first. Many captains have a preferred agent and a provisioner they have used for years. Ask before you call anyone. The names below are who to call when the captain does not have one, or when you need a second option. If your captain swears by someone who is not on this list, tell me and we will list them.

In Palma your first two calls are the provisioner and, if the boat is commercial, the agent who handles the bonded paperwork.

The provisioner. Pick one as your primary and send the list early. The named field is in Section 3.

The agent. Estela Superyacht Agency, Av Gabriel Roca 37, on the Paseo Marítimo. +34 971 72 25 32. Open Monday to Friday 9:00 to 18:00. Yacht agent: port formalities, customs clearance, imports and exports, bonded deliveries, air and sea freight coordination, and provisioning.

IVA and bonded stores (the concept to understand cold). Spanish IVA is 21% standard. Most food is 10%: meat, fish, charcuterie, pasta, tinned goods, bottled water. A short list of staples is 4%: bread, flour, milk, cheese, eggs, fruit, vegetables, pulses, potatoes and olive oil. Alcohol and sugared soft drinks are 21%. Retail prices include the tax and you do not get it back on consumables.

Under EU customs rules (the framework chefs reference is EU Reg. 952/2013), a yacht engaged in commercial, international voyaging can take on bonded stores free of VAT and excise duty. The goods stay sealed while the vessel is in EU waters and are meant for consumption outside them. Whether your boat qualifies depends on its status and where the trip goes. Do not work this out yourself. The agent confirms eligibility and does the paperwork.

For a chef: wine, Champagne and spirits for a qualifying charter go through the bonded channel. Fresh food comes from the market with the IVA paid.

Section 1: Pre-Arrival Orders to Lock In

Island supply and Spanish hours. Order early.

• Specialty proteins and anything not stocked on the island (Japanese beef, specific aged cuts, game, non-Spanish cheese): send the list to your provisioner as soon as you have it and ask for the lead time in writing. It comes by air into PMI or by ferry from the mainland.
• Bonded beverage orders: paperwork first, stock second. Start with the agent as soon as the charter is confirmed.
• Fish for a guest trip: order through a fish wholesaler or your provisioner the day before, by species and size. Do not count on finding a specific fish on a market counter at 11:00.
• Meat cut to spec: call Carnicería La Isla or Comercial Vera the day before.
• Palma International Boat Show, 28 April to 1 May 2027. The show is on the Moll Vell, the old quay in the centre of town where STP has its address. Boats are leaving the yard for the season in the same weeks, so April is a heavy month for the suppliers in this guide. Place the season load early.
• Sundays and holidays: almost nothing delivers. If guests board on a Monday, the fresh order lands on Saturday.

Section 2: Dock Delivery Logistics

The yachts sit along the Paseo Marítimo (Av Gabriel Roca), from the old port west to Porto Pi. Know which yard or marina you are in before you give a delivery address.

• STP (Servicios Técnicos Portuarios). Muelle Viejo s/n. The refit yard in the centre of town, with a travel lift to 1,000 tons. Office open Monday to Friday 8:00 to 17:00. +34 971 21 47 47. If the boat is on the hard here, call the yard office and ask how deliveries get through the gate before the first truck arrives.
• Astilleros de Mallorca. Contramuelle-Mollet 11, the shipyard next to the old port. +34 971 71 06 45.
• Real Club Náutico de Palma. Muelle de Sant Pere 1. +34 971 72 68 48.
• Marina Port de Mallorca. Av Gabriel Roca s/n, mid Paseo Marítimo. +34 971 28 96 93.
• Club de Mar Mallorca. Muelle Pelaires s/n, at the Porto Pi end. +34 971 40 36 11. The Carrefour hypermarket in the Porto Pi Centre is next door.
• Port Adriano. El Toro, Calvià, about 25 minutes west of Palma by road. +34 971 23 24 94. It is a separate delivery run. Tell the provisioner the boat is in Adriano, not Palma, when you order.

The yacht provisioners in Section 3 deliver to the dock. YSDelivers delivers across Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca, including to boats at anchor.

Santa Catalina market is ten minutes on foot from STP, so the daily fresh run from the yard is a walk. Mercat de l'Olivar has a car park underneath. Mercapalma, Makro and Comercial Vera are on the estates east and north of the city and need a vehicle.

Section 3: Specialty Imports

The yacht provisioners, and the specialty shops that fill the gaps.

• Bespoke Provisioning. Carrer del Cardenal Rossell 182, inside the Mercapalma wholesale estate. Yacht and villa supplier: meat, fish, seafood and local produce. +34 619 59 33 87.
• Balearic Provisioning. C/ de ses Rafaletes 1, by Porto Pi. Yacht provisioner. +34 659 16 08 35.
• YSDelivers Yacht Provisioning. Av Gabriel Roca 16A, on the Paseo Marítimo. Fresh produce, meat and seafood, dry goods, organic lines, wine. Delivers across Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca, including anchorages. Open Monday to Friday 9:00 to 17:00. +34 676 09 17 11.
• Ashore Marine. Plaça de la Navegació 9, on the Santa Catalina market square. Interior services, uniform and laundry, and charter provisioning. Open Monday to Friday 8:30 to 14:00. +34 971 90 39 25.
• Delicioso. Carrer Illes Canàries 31, Santa Ponsa, on the Port Adriano side of the bay. Food and wine for yachts, villas and events. Open Monday to Friday 8:30 to 16:00. No listed phone; order through the website.
• Comercial Vera. Carrer Poima 28, Son Castelló. Spanish and imported meat including Galician beef, Angus and Wagyu, Ibérico ham, cheese, caviar, foie gras, truffle, wine, and imported and Asian goods. Delivers to yachts. Open Monday to Friday 8:30 to 20:00, Saturday 8:30 to 14:00. +34 971 75 68 16.
• La Casa del Caviar Imperial. Plaça de l'Olivar 22A, at the Olivar market. Beluga, osetra and Amur caviar in several tin sizes, salmon roe, and shipping in temperature-controlled packing. Open Monday to Saturday 9:00 to 17:00. +34 662 36 08 25.
• El Corte Inglés, Jaume III. Av de Jaume III 15. Department store with a supermarket in the building. Open Monday to Saturday 9:00 to 21:30. +34 971 77 01 77.
• Supermercado Asia. Carrer Uetam 7. Asian grocery, open daily 9:30 to 21:30. +34 871 96 78 78.

For parts and non-food sourcing, WBW Source & Supply, Carrer d'Andreu Jaume i Nadal 31, +34 640 93 06 29. They do not sell food.

Section 4: Proteins

Spain is a meat country and Palma has the counters. The local product worth knowing: Ibérico pork and ham from the mainland, Mallorcan lamb, suckling pig, and sobrasada, the island's soft cured paprika sausage.

• Comercial Vera. Carrer Poima 28, Son Castelló. Butcher counter with Spanish and imported beef, lamb, Ibérico ham and charcuterie. Delivers to yachts. +34 971 75 68 16.
• Carnicería La Isla. Carrer de Selva 3. Butcher. Takes phone orders. +34 971 47 55 76.
• The market butchers. Mercat de l'Olivar and Mercat de Santa Catalina both have meat and charcuterie stalls. Buy by the piece and ask for it cut the way you want.
• The yacht provisioners in Section 3 for volume and for anything that has to be brought onto the island.

Section 5: Seafood

Mediterranean fish, sold by its Spanish and Mallorcan names. Learn them before you go: lubina (sea bass), dorada (sea bream), rape (monkfish), gallo de San Pedro (John Dory), cap roig (scorpionfish), calamar (squid), sepia (cuttlefish), gamba roja (red prawn, the Sóller boats are the ones named on menus). Llampuga (mahi) is the autumn fish on the island.

• Mercat de l'Olivar fish hall. Plaça de l'Olivar s/n. The city's central market has a separate fish hall. Monday to Saturday 7:00 to 15:00, closed Sunday. Market office +34 971 72 03 14.
• Pescados Cati. Inside Mercat de Santa Catalina, ten minutes on foot from STP. +34 971 73 04 16.
• Pescados Mar Este. Mercapalma, pavilion 3, stalls 2 and 3. Wholesale fish and seafood. Monday to Saturday 7:30 to 13:30. +34 637 35 26 98. This is where you buy by the box. Call the day before with species and weights.
• Bespoke Provisioning is based on the same Mercapalma estate and has fish and seafood on its list. +34 619 59 33 87.

The counter changes daily. Go early, and do not write a guest menu around a fish you have not seen.

Section 6: Produce and Farm-Direct

Two covered markets and a wholesale market. All three are morning operations.

Mercat de l'Olivar. Plaça de l'Olivar s/n, in the centre of town. Fish hall, meat, produce, cheese, charcuterie, bread and spices under one roof, with a Mercadona supermarket upstairs and a car park underneath. Monday to Saturday 7:00 to 15:00, closed Sunday. Market office +34 971 72 03 14.

Mercat de Santa Catalina. Plaça de la Navegació s/n. The neighbourhood market closest to the yachts, ten minutes on foot from STP. Produce, fish, meat, cheese. Stalls trade Monday to Saturday 7:00 to 15:00. Market office +34 689 10 01 29 or +34 971 73 07 10.

Mercapalma. Carrer del Cardenal Rossell 182, on the east side of the city toward the airport. The island's wholesale market, with fruit and vegetable traders and a fish pavilion. Monday to Saturday 6:00 to 13:00. +34 971 74 54 01. Buying is by the case. If you are not buying volume, the provisioners based on the estate do the buying for you.

• Agromart Cataluña. Carrer de Catalunya 5, on the edge of Santa Catalina. Mallorcan-grown produce, olive oil and wine. Monday to Saturday 8:00 to 21:00, Sunday 8:30 to 14:30. +34 633 08 14 98. Note the Sunday morning hours. It is one of the few produce counters open when the markets are shut.
• Cheese: S'aglà Formatges. Two market stalls. In Olivar at Plaça de l'Olivar 2, +34 665 27 24 80. In Santa Catalina at stalls 48 to 50, +34 971 45 31 66. Tuesday to Saturday 8:30 to 14:30, closed Monday.

What the island grows: tomatoes, peppers, aubergines and stone fruit through the summer, citrus from the Sóller valley in winter and spring, almonds, olives, and oil sold under the Oli de Mallorca designation. Mahón cheese comes from Menorca next door. Ask the stallholder what is from the island and what came off the ferry.

Section 7: Dry Goods and Pantry

• Mercadona. Av de Joan Miró 4. The nearest large supermarket to the Paseo Marítimo marinas. Monday to Saturday 9:00 to 21:30, closed Sunday. +34 971 45 63 16. There is a second Mercadona upstairs at Mercat de l'Olivar.
• Carrefour hypermarket. Porto Pi Centre, Av Gabriel Roca 54, next to Club de Mar. Monday to Saturday 9:00 to 22:00. +34 971 70 84 29.
• Makro. Carrer del Guadiana 140, Polígono Son Fuster. Cash and carry, Monday to Saturday 7:00 to 21:00, closed Sunday. +34 971 47 70 10. Makro sells to card holders, and the card needs a Spanish tax registration (the 036 or 037 form) and a NIF, NIE or CIF. A boat without a Spanish tax number cannot open one. Ask your agent how the boat can buy there before you drive out.
• Comercial Vera for oils, vinegars, rice, pasta and imported and Asian dry goods alongside the meat counter, and Supermercado Asia for the Asian shelf. Both are in Section 3.

Island pantry items: Mallorcan olive oil, sea salt from the Es Trenc salt flats, almonds, capers and sobrasada.

Section 8: Bread and Bakery

Palma has working bakeries in the old town, a short walk from the old port. The island's own pastry is the ensaimada, a coiled sweet bread made with pork lard, sold plain or filled, from single portions to a boxed one for the table. Tell guests who do not eat pork.

• Fornet de la Soca. Plaça de Weyler 9. Traditional Mallorcan bakery: bread and ensaimadas. Tuesday to Saturday 9:00 to 20:00, closed Sunday and Monday. +34 673 49 94 46.
• Forn del Santo Cristo. Carrer dels Paraires 2. Bakery and ensaimadas. Monday to Saturday 8:30 to 20:00, Sunday 8:30 to 13:30. +34 971 71 26 49. Open Sunday morning.

For charter volume, give the bakery or your provisioner the order the day before with a pickup time.

Section 9: Alcohol and Beverages

• La Vinoteca. Carrer del Pare Bartomeu Pou 29. Wine merchant, delivers in Palma. Monday to Friday 9:00 to 13:30 and 16:30 to 19:00, Saturday 9:30 to 13:30. +34 971 76 19 32. Note the afternoon gap.
• Comercial Vera sells wine and spirits alongside the food, +34 971 75 68 16. Agromart Cataluña has Mallorcan wine on the shelf with the produce, +34 633 08 14 98.
• The yacht provisioners for the full charter beverage list delivered in one drop.
• Bonded supply. For a charter yacht that qualifies, wine, Champagne and spirits come VAT and excise exempt through the bonded channel, sealed while the boat is in EU waters. Estela Superyacht Agency lists bonded deliveries, +34 971 72 25 32.

Mallorca makes its own wine. The two designations are Binissalem, in the middle of the island, and Pla i Llevant, in the east. The local red grapes are Manto Negro and Callet; the local white is Prensal Blanc.

IVA note: alcohol is taxed at the standard 21% and retail prices include it.

Section 10: Crew Meal Provisioning

Yard-period work is crew food: lunch for crew and day workers, week after week. The supermarkets carry it.

• Mercadona, Av de Joan Miró 4, for the weekly crew shop from the Paseo Marítimo marinas and STP. +34 971 45 63 16.
• Carrefour, Porto Pi Centre, for boats in Club de Mar. Open until 22:00. +34 971 70 84 29.
• Makro, Son Fuster, for case lots if the boat has card access. +34 971 47 70 10.
• Santa Catalina market for the daily fresh top-up on foot from the yard, and Agromart Cataluña for produce on a Sunday morning.

Crew food budgets differ boat to boat; ask your chief stew, purser or captain before you shop. Food carries IVA at 4% or 10%, not the standard 21%.

Between boats or new to town: crew housing is on the housing page, the Palma ENG1 doctors are on certifications, the Palma STCW schools are in the STCW table, and the agencies with Palma desks are on the agencies page.

Section 11: The One-Day Ground Run

Everything fresh happens before lunch. Build the day backwards from 13:00.

The evening before:

• Phone the fish order to Pescados Mar Este or your provisioner. Phone the meat order to Carnicería La Isla or Comercial Vera. Send the provisioner the dry and beverage list with the berth and the marina name.

Early morning, on foot from STP or the old port:

• Mercat de Santa Catalina from 7:00 for fish at Pescados Cati and produce. The S'aglà cheese stall opens at 8:30 and is closed Monday.
• Or Mercat de l'Olivar if you want the bigger fish hall and the Mercadona upstairs in one stop. Park underneath.
• Forn del Santo Cristo or Fornet de la Soca for bread and ensaimadas on the way back through the old town.

Mid-morning, with a vehicle:

• Mercapalma before 13:00 for case-lot produce and the wholesale fish pickup.
• Comercial Vera in Son Castelló for meat and specialty dry goods.
• Makro in Son Fuster for crew bulk, with card access.

Afternoon, when the small shops are shut:

• Mercadona on Joan Miró or Carrefour at Porto Pi for staples. Both trade straight through the afternoon.
• La Vinoteca reopens at 16:30 for wine, or have them deliver.
• Receive the provisioner's delivery at the boat.

Realistic timing: the market walk is 90 minutes. The Mercapalma, Son Castelló and Son Fuster loop is a half day with a car and a cool box. On a guest turnaround, walk the market and hand the rest to the provisioner.

Section 12: Contingency Planning

What's likely to fall through, and the backup:

• You started the run too late. The markets shut by 15:00 and Mercapalma by 13:00. If the morning is gone, the supermarkets are what is left: Mercadona until 21:30, Carrefour until 22:00.
• Sunday. Both markets, Mercapalma, Makro and Mercadona are closed. What is open: Agromart Cataluña 8:30 to 14:30, Forn del Santo Cristo 8:30 to 13:30, Supermercado Asia 9:30 to 21:30. For a Monday boarding, take the fresh delivery on Saturday.
• Island lead times. Anything not stocked on the island has to fly or take the ferry. Ask for the lead time when you order and have a second dish ready.
• Bonded and IVA errors. Paying 21% on a beverage load the boat could have taken bonded is the expensive mistake. Taking bonded goods the boat is not entitled to is the worse one. Status changes when a boat moves between charter and private use, so confirm with the agent each season.
• Wrong marina on the delivery note. Five yards and marinas sit along one avenue, and Port Adriano is 25 minutes away. Put the marina name, the berth and a crew phone number on every order.
• Boat show week and the April rush. The Palma International Boat Show runs 28 April to 1 May 2027 on the Moll Vell, beside STP, while the fleet is leaving the yards. Order the season load before the middle of April.