There are three major black spots in the Mallorcan Tramuntana Mountains at the moment as the hiking season kicks off: the Pareis torrent (Escorca), the Camí del Pintor (between Cala Deya and Muleta in Saller) and Mortitx (Pollensa).
In the first two cases, most of the rescues are of inexperienced hikers who tackle the route without the right equipment or without the right level and end up trapped or injured.
In Mortitx, on the other hand, disorientation is the main problem because the area has no internet coverage.
According to the latest rescue statistics of the Balearic Mountaineering Federation (FBM), hiking leads the ranking of activities subject to rescue (between 55 and 60% of all cases), followed by canyoning (25-30%), climbing (5%), mountain biking (2%), caving (2%) and paragliding (1%).
With regards to hiking, the main causes of rescue are trips, falls, physical problems, weather and getting trapped.
They can be accidental, due to lack of training and information, lack of physical preparation or not consulting the weather forecast.
The main advice from the Mountain Safety Department of the FBM is to plan the activity with as much information as possible (books, maps, internet, etc.) and this is where one of the great debates and challenges arises: signposting hiking routes without causing a knock-on effect that could cause environmental damage.
The number of mountain rescues carried out by Mallorca’s rescue teams has doubled since 2014, from 112 to 243 in 2022, and the high season for mountaineering has not yet begun. Escorca leads the ranking with 59 operations followed by Deya (18) and Arta (20).