August Updates: Soller’s Art Festival, new supermarket, hotel, and parking developments

Nit de l’art in Soller is this weekend. | LL. GARCIA

Shirley RobertsSoller16/08/2024 12:59

The middle of August is the time when cracks appear. Usually that’s a ‘crack’ of thunder and a few heavy downpours. We can have weeks and weeks of sunshine and then, out of nowhere, a cloud bearing the precious gift of rain. We are always delighted to see the wet stuff. We are not so keen at the horrid humidity which usually accompanies a summer down pour. We can’t have everything we want, and the sight of rain means we can look forward to more of it as the month draws to a close. End of August rains usually make way for the glorious month of September, when towards the end of the month, it begins to get a little cooler.

The Nit of the Art takes place in Soller tomorrow, Saturday, August 17th 2024. The Placa becomes an art gallery as do some of the side streets. The Lluna shopping street hosts plenty of art and the live music of the night. Local people love this celebration, and local artists appreciate the opportunity it gives them to show their work and meet customers. The buses will be bringing in the Art lovers from Palma to join our celebrations.

Soller people are watching the two new building projects making progress. One is a large new supermarket on the Industrial Estate. The talk about a sizeable shop has gone on for years and no-one believed it would become reality. We have a raft of small supermarkets dotted around Soller and the Port. This means many local people shop in large supermarkets outside the Soller Valley. In their heart they want to support local enterprise, but their income level does not permit it. They shop, and buy their petrol, at cheaper places in the middle of the island. So, is this supermarket going to make a difference? The jury is still out, as a Hiper Centro Soller emerges from the newly cleared land. The new premises will have car parking and a larger range of goods but whether that will be enough to change the Soller Valley shopping habits remains to be seen. A new, cut-price petrol station has already opened in this location too. Residents are just about getting used to the pay by card automatic pumps. No staff on duty here.

The Salino Port Hotel, on the Repic in Puerto Soller is the other building we are watching. An army of workers are finishing this project now, ready for a ‘soft’ opening later this year. The cynics of Soller said it could never be done in the time allowed. Others are sad that this very smart building will replace the last one-star hotel in the Balearics. They still have a way to go but I am sure they will achieve their ambition to open in 2024.

The new car park on the Desviament Road is almost ready. Said to be working by the time we get to the St Bartholomew Fiesta dates. If that is achieved it will mean three new car parks have come to fruition in the last three months. A remarkable achievement considering all the angst about this earlier in the year. Now the rearrangement of the walking and cycle lane is said to be the next priority.

A new gym is the other building many of our young fitness Sollerics are watching. They walk past all the new installations, and they can’t wait to get in there. A Chinese shop moved up the road in back street Soller, leaving a great space for this new kid on the block. I predict a queue will form when they finally open the door here.

So, while the talking goes on the work happens and surprises us when it’s all brand new and finished. The gaping hole and cranes which occupied the space opposite the Gran hotel is now finished and smart town house holiday accommodation has arrived in its place. While all the moaning goes on so does the work and then, one day, we wake up and wonder what all the angst was about. I hope that will be true of all the projects nearing completion in Soller and the Port this month.