Vogue’s Guide to Menorca, This Summer’s Buzziest Balearic Island

Just 130 miles off the coast of Spain, the Balearic island of Menorca holds an immediate charm with its rocky coves, white-sand beaches, and rolling valleys unrivaled in their beauty. For decades, the island was long overlooked in favor of its glitzier neighbors Ibiza and Mallorca, veritable European hotspots known around the world. But it’s now Menorca’s laid-back appeal and sense of spaciousness that’s attracting travelers to the island.

Renowned for its restored farmhouses, sophisticated vineyards, and whitewashed medieval villages, travelers seeking the tranquility of its tucked-away coves and relaxed eateries are drawn to this low-profile paradise, where a bygone era of Balearic charm still persists. Documenting this change over the years have been Natalia Wilmanski and Sandra Roters, owners of Islanders, a concierge travel-planning service for visitors to Menorca. The co-founders consider the island’s slow growth as its best asset, which gave the island time to create tourism in its unique way—what Roters considers the right way. “Sustainable, ecological, and cultural, all while being chic and charming,” in her words. 

They believe this is in part thanks to the island’s designation as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, which encourages both locals and visitors to maintain a more conscious approach, both in the prevention of invasive tourism and from uncontrolled building and development. “Our outlook is a little different than our neighbors,” says Wilmanski. “It’s our hope that the island will continue to stay as it is now, only with more year-round demand.”