It was not quite a tourist boom, not yet anyway, more a timid trickle of Spanish honeymooners and a couple of thousand adventurous French travelers, who would come to marvel at an island where tradition – and poverty – still held sway as the decade of the 1950s got off to a start. Then, like a bolt from the blue, Errol Flynn swept into port and somehow Mallorca would never quite be the same again. Over the decade that followed, the legendary Hollywood actor known for his swashbuckling roles in films like Captain Blood and The Adventures of Robin Hood, came to love the island of Mallorca. And his love was infectious: soon his presence on the island attracted stars, like Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth, Tyrone Powell, Orson Welles and Douglas Fairbanks, bringing the razzle and dazzle of Hollywood to sleepy Palma de Mallorca.
Like most great love stories, this one was sparked by a chance meeting. The actor had just wed his third wife Patrica Wymore in Monaco and the pair were sailing aboard their yacht to Gibraltar. A violent winter storm forced them to seek shelter in Port Pollença. They spent the next two weeks exploring the island’s wild and beautiful north coast. The moment we arrived on the beautiful Mediterranean island, we fell in love with it,· Patricia would later recall. “Those two weeks in Majorca were marvelous, unforgettable.”
The pair promised to return and spend longer – and they were as good as their word. In 1956, Errol, Patricia and their little daughter Arnella sailed into Palma and took up residence first in the Hotel Maricel, then the Bonsol before settling down in a home of their own, Es Moli, in the growing suburb of Illetas.
Flynn was clearly captivated by the island’s natural beauty, tranquil lifestyle, and the sense of freedom it offered—qualities that appealed to the restless spirit of the actor who was, by then, weary of the pressures and scandals of Hollywood life. His luxurious 69-foot yacht, the Zaca, became his floating home-way-from-home and a symbol of his desire for adventure and escape. It was also the venue for raucous drink-fuelled parties.
On dry land too, Flynn played the role of hard-drinking playboy and bon vivant to perfection too. After an afternoon at the bullfights, he’d decamp for dinner to Celler Catalá before downing frozen daiquiris at Joe’s Bar. as Wymore would later recount of the dizzying social whirl: “In those years, the 1950s, we frequented Plaza Gomila at night: Tito’s, El Patio, Joe’s.
“Their customs were very different to those of traditional Mallorcan society. But allowances were made for their eccentricities”, remembers Ventura Sala, whose father Eduard was hired to helm the Zaca,. “A maid of Errol’s neighbors told me that she once saw a party at the actor’s home. In the party, the dress code was to go half naked – each guest could choose whether they left the top or the bottom half of their body bare”.
There was time too gor family days out. Flynn, Patricia and Arnella often went sailing around the Mediterranean aboard the Zaca and the island’s secluded coves and serene waters provided the perfect setting for the kind of escapades Flynn loved.
“We sailed to wonderful beaches, only accessible by sea. I remember that they taught me to make an oven on the beach: a hole in the sand covered in banana skin. I can assure you that I have an image of complete happiness of that time in Majorca.”
Flynn’s association with Mallorca also coincided with a period of personal reflection. By the 1950s, his career was in decline, and he was facing numerous personal challenges, including health problems and financial difficulties. Mallorca provided him with a retreat where he could momentarily escape the pressures of his life in the public eye. During his time on the island, Flynn attempted to write his memoirs, reflecting on his life’s highs and lows, although he struggled to find the discipline to complete the project.
Flynn’s final years were marked by a sense of decline, but his time in Mallorca remained one of the few constants in a life otherwise characterized by turbulence.
Errol Flynn died in 1959 at the age of 50, but his legacy in Mallorca lives on. The Zaca still sails the Mediterranean, and the stories of Flynn’s time on the island have become part of local lore. To this day, Flynn is remembered in Mallorca not just as a Hollywood icon, but as a figure whose presence helped shape the island’s history during a transformative period. His association with Mallorca adds a unique dimension to the legacy of a man who was as enigmatic and complex as the characters he portrayed on screen.
“He was a hardened drinker, a bon vivant, a party-lover, an adventurer, a womanizer… But first and foremost he was an approachable, accessible man”, Ventura remembers today. “When he sailed to Ibiza, he would often go out partying with the crew members, which was unthinkable for the classist society of the day. And very often he would come and eat with the sailors when they cooked on the boat”.
Image: flickr.com
