The ‘Golden Bowl’ of the Soller Valley occupies many words and pictures. A beautiful world which most of us do not take for granted. We are aware of the quality of our place in the universe. The emergence of Palma Pictures and their great work has allowed the filmmakers of the world to know what we have here. We are frequently used as a filming location and it provides hours of fun to watch. We occasionally catch a glimpse of a star or two and it is a great spectator sport.
The ‘Humans’ side of all this can be seen in the number of film makers, producers and people introduced here because they have worked on a set for a time. The ‘Night Manager’ produced two who bought houses here weeks after arriving and are now part of the community. This is a very common theme and provides great new friends to the melting pot of life here.
Filming needs trucks, vans, catering outlets and people hanging around. For some locals this can be irritating but most of us are just delighted this means even more of the viewing public will see our world on screen. The statistics for the effects of location trippers cannot be underestimated. For The Crown, the story around our way, centres on Princess Diana’s stay at the Residencia Hotel. We watch as a remake of recent history comes to life in the Soller Valley.
Open for winter
In my Sollerweb world we are inundated with enquiries about what is open here from November 2021 through the winter. We give them the facts that are available on the day they ask, but this is a changing feast. Many family run establishments will open till the last tourist passes their door. Others who pay rent and have corporate bosses have to take a projected financial decision.
This is all understandable unless you are a visitor who wants to make plans. We are making our lists and passing the information on but this is not an exact science and some will be disappointed.
The big Soller refurb
The winter renovations for Soller continue to be rolled out. A massive refurb, using government funds, is on course for the covered market area. The plans are really exciting and create a cobbled community space, a play park for children and a market which should be in the heart of the community. This site is opposite the new central Soller hotel construction, so for a while the area will be a competing building site. The end result for both these schemes should be just brilliant. Add this to new road surfaces on twenty roads and the winter of 2021 is going to be busy for many of the tradespeople and builders of Soller.
Dia de La Hispanidad
Today is a Bank Holiday in Spain and Soller has enjoyed extra weekend visitors as families have been able to get together again. Lots of our Madrid friends in evidence catching up here. Life has looked normal in the big outside table gatherings in restaurants.
Many have commented on how many in Mallorca still prefer to wear masks outside. This is not so prevalent in the big Spanish cities they have come from. The rules here have not changed about mask wearing inside buildings or when social distancing can’t be maintained. Most people are delighted that the weather is such that outside dining in restaurants is very much the norm. We are needing a few layers on now to do this. Our existence in the valley of huge mountains means we get very chilly when the sun goes down.
And finally...
Film sets and positive vibes are all around us now in this corner of Mallorca. We know that as the Soller Train stops for its winter refurb our visitor numbers will drop off but we are still hopeful that this winter will be an improvement on last.
The new influx of permanent residents to Soller is very exciting with new ideas and children bringing their energy. Brexit seems to have done little to dent the plans of people who really want to relocate here. Everything is still possible but the bits of paper and permissions take longer. There is good energy in Soller this week…
No comments
To be able to write a comment, you have to be registered and logged in
Currently there are no comments.