Puerto Soller has a genuine fishing village at the Marina end of the Port. ‘Santa Catalina’ is its name and it is the most quintessential route of higgledy piggledy uphill streets and small houses. Once the homes of fishermen, women, port workers and now mix of second home owners and workers. Puerto Soller is a sea faring community and this can be seen most days as locals wait at the quayside for the fish straight off the boat for their tea. The sea, the boats, the fish are all here, all day every day. This is serious commercial fishing alongside the pleasure fishers who go out for the day.
The cluster of life at this end of Puerto Soller is home to the one school, one senior age centre and one Church of the area. A few small supermarkets and a Thursday Market join the tourist and fashion shops. The restaurants and cafes are plentiful and all have their own following. New openings arrive every year and the destination as a high end resort is constantly reinforced.
My Nan’s Days Out to this place always involve the desire to be in the Port when the ‘boats come in’. I love to watch the strong people who sort the catch and clean the boats ready for action tomorrow. This is certainly not a tourist attraction but it attracts many watchers of the old traditions of the fisherfolk.
The Tram ends its route at the Santa Catalina end of the village. Hundreds pour off and then head for the tourist boats in the direction of Sa Colobra. They have a very small time in our world on that trip but they often return. Many who do the train, tram and boat trip vow to come back to spend more time in our fishing village.
The perfect horse shoe bay is flat from end to end with newly paved surfaces. Walkers, runners, skaters, wheelchairs and more all have the benefit of this. The ‘all age promenading’ is a pleasure to watch. Accessible tourism is under the spotlight here and ramps are appearing everywhere to facilitate wheelchairs, prams and pushchairs.
We are now approaching the Fiesta of Saint Peter who is the Patron Saint of Puerto Soller. Local events, exhibitions, music and performances from June 24th to July 10th are on offer. Saint John’s Fiesta up in Deya precedes this one and makes the Soller Valley – Party Time for weeks.
The wander in the early morning or after 8pm, of this area is fabulous. This Port has a navy history, a Civil War dimension and was the barracks of the Navy when the smart uniforms were a feature of this place. Many nice girls loved a sailor. So many generations have stories of their young lives in this place. This was a major Port to France in years gone by. Pre Soller Tunnel days most trade from the Port was done straight out to sea and on to France. Some started even longer journeys and ended in the far flung colonies of Spain at the time. A huge melting pot of people, colours, traditions and expectations of life.
Today in 2022 Puerto Soller ‘Fishermen’s End’ continues reinventing itself. The holy grail for the whole area is year round tourism. Cyclists and walkers extend our season to 10 months but the golden key will arrive when the final two months can be realistically filled. A sunken submarine exhibition was one idea being floated. A destination for film and TV awards, with an auditorium built alongside the sea, was another. Most of these ideas are not worth writing about at the ideas stage, but I am sure there will be one which sticks.
When we walk this walk we spend time at the Museum of the Sea above Santa Catalina. We look out over their lookout point to sea. Many have left their wishes and promises here in the shape of padlocks fixed to the railings. Thousands have walked this walk and seen the same sights as us. The experience is different for everyone – come and join us soon and enjoy it yourself.