1.7m Britons watch Portillo roll into Puerto Soller

This summer, Portillo and a TV crew came to Majorca to film the Balearic stage of his attempt to trace the early 20th-century roots of the Spanish Civil War, which divided his family and sent his father into exile. The former politician discovered a nation fractured at the time by social tensions and regional loyalties, which today offer a rich diversity of cultures to delight the tourist. And after arriving in Majorca from Barcelona, Michael spoil himself enjoying spectacular scenic views aboard the 1912 vintage railway to Soller and the 1913 tram down to the port where he proclaimed that there is so much more to Majorca than just sun and sea and recommended that people come to the island to enjoy the Soller train experience.

He also travelled down to Manacor, as Bradshaw had done in his days, to the capital of pearls and had a go at making a pearl necklace at one of the pearl factories. He also got trampled underfoot at the bottom of a Catalan ‘people steeple’ and learned to make the perfect paella. But the highlight, was clearly the Soller train and tram.