Oranges and Art

A wander round the Puerto Soller last Saturday evening took me to say hello to my friends in the restaurant business. All open in Soller and the trade was buzzing. Early March and booking recommended for some of our finest places. Many diners were sitting outside under the outside heating which is becoming so unpopular. Some countries have already banned them for their environmental impact. I suppose it is only a matter of time before that happens here but they were certainly appreciated on that beautiful, if chilly evening.

Sunday was the ‘International Day of Women’ a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The City of Soller unfurled a banner on the Town Hall and then went into a political spat with the the minority parties accusing the Mayor of not being interested or involved enough. There were no official functions to celebrate the actual day. Many Sollerics left the Valley and joined the main events in Palma a little disgruntled that Soller had not stepped up this time.

The events of Soller are building up now to the Orange Fiesta which starts on Friday March 20 2020. We have a party in Soller Square which kicks of the many events of the next two weeks. The weekend of 21 and 22 March sees orange tastings tapas routes and events in the square. So many visitors love to join us for this and set their holiday dates around the gastronomic experiences. Many local restaurants have an orange menu available until 5 April. This gives the opportunity to try deliciousness at our best restaurants for a fixed price. The full details of participating restaurants and their actual menus is not available to us yet but should be published this week.

The Orange Valley is one of the names this area is known as and the fruit starts many debates. The unique growing environment of the Soller Valley has produced fine fruit for centuries. The orange was the start of the financial success of this place. History, of course tells us of blight and crop failure which led to one of the early migration stories. As harvests failed, economic migrants from the Soller Valley, facing starvation, left and sailed to France and further to work.

In 2020 we are at the beginning of a renaissance and new orange plantations have happened. This raises the question of what is done with so much of the fruit which drops to the floor and rots. What visitors see and exclaim over is the subject of many discussions and meetings. In 2020 the citrus growers of the Soller Valley are organised and ready to do their part in new commercial enterprises. The Vitamin C of Majorca is here and everyone needs to do their bit and buy local. The Canoneta orange is the one we all look out for from Soller. Once tasted never forgotten – I recommend them to you.

Can Prunera is our Museum of Modern Art situated on the main street of La Lluna. Every season new exhibitions are revealed and this week the new one is simply ‘Cosmic’. They describe the work like this: “ The different figures are inspired by the illustrations of the sky maps where what is mythological and what is primigeneous are mixed. On this occasion the different pieces: Moon, star, column, scale, snake... are creating constellations with each other, as in a floating cosmos of bodies.”

The local schools of Soller have been visiting and we have watched the groups as they make their way to see the latest art on display.

The children of the Soller Valley enjoy their MOMA world and have no idea how privileged they are to have their own Modern Art Museum on their doorstep.

We all take for granted the oranges, the art and so much more in the Soller Valley world.
Do come and share our experiences we look forward to seeing you soon – you are very welcome.