When Mallorca discovered tourism

The arrival of the first tourists who came en masse in the early 1960s changed the face of Palma forever. Until then it had been a city that had lived in the silence of the shadows. The photographer Josep Planas i Montanyà (Barcelona, 1903) captured that change like nobody else, a change when tourists in bikinis sunbathing beside the pool became the best advertisement for the hotels of Mallorca.

In 1945, Josep Planas i Montanyà came to Mallorca with the aim of taking up photography as his profession. He opened his first shop in 1947 and evolved from there until he had over 14 establishments and 300 employees on the island.

Planas i Montanyà was an innovator. He captured and portrayed the essence of that vnitage, picture-postcard Mallorca, letting the imagination fly to hitherto unsuspected limits. In fact, he was the first photographer to buy a helicopter in order to see and photograph Palma from the air.

With his snapshots, Planas i Montanyà was able to [...]

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