Those were the days when stars could go unnoticed

Errol Flynn sailed into Palma in the 1950s on board his legendary yacht the Zaca, which, after years of neglect, has been restored by current owner Roberto Memmo, who competed with it in the Admiral Conde de Barcelona regatta in the bay of Palma in August 2000. Majorca was relatively unspoiled in the 1950s, and Palma was still a provincial city although it was known internationally as a tourist destination. The Club Náutico had been opened in 1948, and it was there that the Zaca was moored. Flynn first came to the island in 1950 but soon returned and from 1955 the Zaca could be seen moored at the Club Náutico while he and his third wife, Patrice Wymore, rented an Ibizan-style chalet, Es Molí, at the entrance to Illetas, which was demolished in February 1989. All that remains is part of the tower and a plaque honouring their visit. The couple, who arrived on their honeymoon, spent long seasons on the island until Flynn's death in 1959. The Calvia council invited Patrice Wymore to the island in 1985, but she found everything had changed. Ventura Sala, the son of Eduardo Sala, who was Zaca's first mate for the actor, said that the yacht was more famous for the parties held on board than for her sailing feats. The night life at the time was centred in Plaza Gomila, which was elegant in those days, and Errol Flynn could regularly be seen in the bars there, or restaurants such as El Patio or the sophisticated night club Tito's. Summers were much quieter then, with fewer people and no paparazzi, so that celebrities such as the star of The Adventures of Robin Hood could move around at their ease, enjoying the calm for which the island was known. Sala said that Flynn was very sociable, unless someone approached him in a challenging way, “then they were likely to get a punch on the nose or be pushed overboard,” he said.