This is the week words are being listened to. The Town Hall have held meetings and long term decisions are being made. The Soller Valley is full of visitors and many of them are here to attend fine weddings. There is a huge backlog of wonderful celebrations going on here and now. This week the news was dominated by the direct flights from the USA to Mallorca actually happening,this made no difference for our current US incomers. They got here from all over the USA to attend a fine wedding in Biniaraix. All week we have had chats with them in Soller and in the shops.
They, like many other visitors this year, were anxious to visit Can Prunera, the Museum of Modern Art in Soller. This has been Covid shut for almost three years. So many have turned up to find the door resolutely closed, including Tour Guides who were not told of its closure. It actually opened on Tuesday June 7 and is now open for the season. Local people will be very glad they no longer have to apologise, on the Ferrocarril’s behalf, for this state of affairs.
The sun is shining and joy is around our world again. The joy of children playing on the beach and swimming. The joy of adults relaxing and recharging their batteries in the sun. This is what we want for all visitors to Mallorca.
Our current ‘first world’ problems are all to do with transport. Fewer hire cars mean more use of the buses and taxis. Therein lies a tale on both subjects. The Town Hall has resolved that Soller should have night buses at the weekends. All well and good but it is not their decision to make. This is one for the Transport chiefs in Palma. It is said they are sympathetic but worried about precedent. Currently night buses run from the centre of Palma to the outer suburbs. If Soller gets a night bus it will open the floodgates for all areas of Mallorca.
Taxis are another issue and the Town Hall acknowledge we have a problem. Some of the stories this week have been pretty bad. A three taxi party heading for a reservation in Palma last Saturday had to wait for one taxi to drop off and collect three times. No other option was available and completely ruined their evening. The taxis are suffering from the lack of hire cars around. This was predicted for over a year and still we are in this position. Everyone local is doing their best but the problems are immense.
We are still early in the season and if the decision makers get together this week improvements can be made. In the meantime visitors use of what is in walking distance of where they are staying has created a great bounce for local restaurants and businesses. Always a silver cloud on the horizon to look for and enjoy. It’s now time to get ‘our summer on’ and have the best time.