Everything and everyone has history. We just didn’t arrive here fully formed and grown. We had adventures on the highway and we are constantly evolving. This was clear to me this week as my path took me to the newly created houses of Soller, embraced in the shell of the old. Past history tells of the returners to Soller who built the Soller palaces with their wealth made abroad. This was a common theme in Soller and was part of the reason ‘The Bank of Soller’ was created. Returners money found their way to this bank and it was credited with funding the many important projects of our local history.
The village houses retained their exteriors but inside was an altogether different matter. The finest furniture from France plus the obligatory piano was installed. The attention to the heating available at the time and the gas lighting were all ahead of the curve of the rest of Mallorca. Fast forward all that to 2022 where the same is happening from a different perspective.
Take a village house, gut the interior and build the most modern monument. Stairs, no problem, let’s install a lift. Existing kitchen too small, lets create a kitchen from the whole Entrada floor. Keep the smaller rooms upstairs for other uses but let’s celebrate the kitchen big time. Swimming pools and gardens have separate team of constructors and use the very latest technology to create year round pools with heating and lane swimming currents.
This high end development of Soller village houses has been going on for some years. It used to be, you walked the streets and peeped inside an open door, to find traditional furniture and style. Now you look and can find stunning interiors which would not be out of place in the finest cities of the world.
Just one problem in all this is that the new interiors, built to these specifications, all begin to look the same. What started as innovation has now become ordinary and to be expected. This is the challenge for all the bright young things trying to be ahead of the curve.
What is the next phase of interior design for 2022? I will not attempt to answer that question but I do know that many ‘would be’ purchasers of the Valley are now saying that if you’ve seen one of these glitzy interiors, you’ve seen them all. What was new and exciting has now become passé and the people with the money want something unique. The ‘Soller Brand’ can’t be defined by the latest glitzy kitchen. People will soon tire of that and be joining the true Solleric in determining where the ‘Soul of Soller lies’.
The wealth and money it takes to create these magnificent homes is at odds with the average local person. They are intrigued by the work which goes on next door and the eye watering money the houses sell for. This bears no relation to the normal family life which happens in this town. Unlike Deia and Fornalutx which has a population of more incomers than local, Soller still has a huge majority of local people living local lives. This is said to be the reason many choose this, as place to move to.
Life goes on in a recognisable form for most of the population. Children, go to one of the 6 schools, of the area, and their parents go to work. The end of the Soller tunnel has encouraged people to move to Soller and commute to Palma for work. Three generational families exist and grandparents are very involved in their daily lives. Latest population stats give around 14,000 as the number who are registered in Soller Valley.
The vibrant life of the Soller Valley gives a great, busy year, in normal times. Fiestas and celebrations plus the benefit of tourists is just wonderful. The constant innovation of local businesses to keep up with changing times is fascinating to watch. What also pleases are those who just stand still and remain just as they have been for the past 50 years. They give us a living glimpse of the past and remind us that although change is all around that some things just stay the same.