I have always loved Camp de Mar, infact I learnt to swim there and it always will have a special place in my heart. What is rather surprising is that this quiet seaside village was the home to a British spy whose death on Mallorca, even today, is surrounded in mystery.
Thomas Harris was the MI6 handler for Spanish double agent, Joan Pujol, who fooled the Germans into believing that the allies would be landing in the Calais area rather than Normandy in the now famous D-Day landings. After the war Harris moved to Majorca to paint (in fact an exhibition of his work is now taking place in Palma). But what no-one is too sure about, or they are not saying, is whether Harris was a double agent working for the Soviets. One of his best friends was the infamous double agent Kim Philby who climbed almost to the top of the British intelligence services while spying for the Russians. Philby finally defected to Moscow in 1963 and the British intelligence services wanted to question Harris about his relationship with Philby.
On January 27, 1964 Harris and his wife travelled to Palma from their Camp de Mar home. They had drinks with prominent expats at a popular bar in the Borne. They then left and headed towards Llucmajor. Their car hit a tree at speed, Harris was killed but his wife survived. At the time police could find nothing wrong with the vehicle but it was later claimed that the British spy had been murdered by the KGB to stop him talking to the British intelligence services.