The municipal district of Felanitx covers an area of 169.57 km2 and has a population of over 15,000. It is located in the south east of Mallorca and its 15 km coastline contains several beaches, which are one of the main tourist attractions in this area. Outside the towns there are many rural houses, which form part of the area´s architectural heritage; some of these houses have been restored and form part of Mallorca´s range of rural tourism establishments, either as rural properties within the agrotourism sector or as rural hotels.
There is documented evidence that 15 houses existed in Felanitx around 1260, and these formed the original village, probably around the square of Font de Santa Margalida, where there is a water fountain, as a garden area was irrigated during the Moorish period. In front of this square, to the left, climbing the steps up to the Parish Church of Sant Miquel, is the small Church of Santa Maria, which dates from the 13th or 14th century, with reminiscences of Romanesque art that are typical of the early-Gothic period. The aforementioned parish church is a Gothic building from the 16th century, with a single nave covered with a cross-vault roof and lateral chapels. Above the main door is an image of Sant Jordi (Saint George), with Saint Peter and Saint Paul at either side of him, and inside there is an important series of altarpieces of great artistic value. The Convent of Sant Agustí, founded in 1603, is a Baroque-style building with a simple and austere façade. The other convent is that of La Providència, on the street of Carrer Julivert, and its appearance is the result of a thorough transformation carried out at the beginning of the 20th century. On Carrer del Call we find the steps that climb up to El Calvari (the Calvary), with the stations of the cross and a small oratory with a simple chapel, which was constructed in the mid-19th century, following the style of the Calvary of Pollença, which was the hometown of the religious man behind the building of this structure.
As early as the 19th century Felanitx was an industrial town, specialising in the production of liquor and wine, and there are many notable houses in the town which are a testimony to the prosperity that industry brought with it. The town´s industrial activity is now strongly linked to construction, though there are also companies which operate in food processing and sausage-meat production. With regard to wine, the zone is within the Denomination of Origin of Pla i Llevant de Mallorca, with some bodegas which produce high-quality wines.
Es Carritxó is a circle of houses surrounding the Church of Sant Antoni, nearby Felanitx.
Local customs
El Ball dels Cavallets is a traditional dance, though it is not exclusive to Felanitx. It involves a group of 6 children carrying the figure of a horse over their bodies and a lady dressed in white wearing a skirt, who dance and move to the music of flutes, flageolets and tambourines. This traditional Catalan dance was probably introduced in Felanitx by the Augustinian friars to solemnize the festival of Saint Augustine. The dance is performed on 28 August (Saint Augustine´s day) and 20 July (Saint Margalida´s day).
Sant Joan Pelós is a dance which belongs to the celebrations of Sant Joan´s day (Saint John´s day) on 24 June. It is performed by a man representing Saint John the Baptist. Despite not being exclusive to Felanitx, there is documentation which states that the dance was performed as far back as the 19th century. Over time it has changed, becoming a freer dance without too much importance placed on moves and turns. Sant Joan Pelós and the dance of Àguiles in Pollença.