A bar in Soller

A person working at a bar in Soller. | I.C.

Anna NicholasPalma 07/02/2025 09:28
TW
4

In between meetings in central London last week I had a mooch around local estate agents. It’s always a surreal experience and usually I have a good guffaw at the insane property rental prices but hark the lark, all was not as it seemed. Having just come from the Soller valley, where prices have gone through the roof, London began to look more accommodating. Who’d have guessed?

A London estate agent raised an eyebrow when I told him how much people pay for a tiny rental flat in Soller. He showed me a few one-bedroom rental properties in affluent St John’s Wood for almost half the price. It was the same with purchasing flats. I clocked a few pleasant one and two-beds in grand apartment blocks for around £300,000 in the same zone. You’d be hard pressed to find such quality in our neck of the woods in Soller, if even available. Most good value properties are snapped up instantly, leaving a bedraggled, problem-rich, lacklustre overpriced list for would-be buyers to wade through.

There are many townhouses available in Soller itself, but many buyers shy away from the centre due to lack of parking, noise and paucity of gardens. This means that two to three bed fincas with parking and a private garden and pool become hugely desirable to the affluent. If you’re not a cash buyer or ready to up the ante, it’s still easy to miss the boat.

I was shocked enough by the attractive property rental prices in some parts of London but then came the F&B offering. The cost-of-living crisis and steep rise in fuel and day to day commodities has had an effect on many restaurants and cafés in Mallorca. It’s very difficult to find reasonably priced eateries now in our valley and other much visited areas. We frequent our favourites and go to more elevated fine dining dens for special treats. In London, the prices aren’t cheap but are becoming dangerously close to those you might expect in Mallorca. The difference is that you get real linen serviettes and tablecloths in London! Supermarkets proved much cheaper in London too and many shops such as Boots offered countless three-for-two offers. Luckily, I had a suitcase so picked up my favourite conditioner for half the price of Mallorca and even got one free.

My average meal in London with friends was £35 including starters. In truth, I wouldn’t pay much less back in Mallorca for the same kind of fare. Coffees were a little more expensive but usually double the size. Nothing in the world would make me want to leave the golden isle but the days of cheap drinks and eats, and knock down properties have long gone. But what about the locals who earn so much less than folk in London? How can they possibly compete with second home owners who so often earn much higher incomes back in their own countries? And how can they cope with the rising prices on the island when salary packets are meagre? It’s a well-hacked old chestnut and sadly I don’t hold answers, but the island is moving at speed in a new direction, and we all need to hang onto our coats and hats to stay on the train.