Rules, rules, and more rules is the chatter now. In immersing myself in the very recent history of the Soller Valley I find we are very compliant these days. Is this because Europe has a say in the rules or is it that the politicians want to please those who complain the loudest? For instance, let’s take the main road between the Tunnel and the Port. One side of the road, for some of the route, is a cycle path and a space for people to walk. It has become, by default, a car park. The rules of the road apply, and it would not be unusual to see a ticket on those cars for a parking contravention. This is not the case as its now assumed and accepted that cars can park there as there is nowhere else for them.
Let’s go to the back of the Port on the Repic side. In the past the restaurant and bars in that area stayed open most of the night, shutting around 6am at weekends before tidying up and starting all over again. I am describing the world around 40 to 50 years ago. Now the restaurants choose to close when the customers dry up. Sometimes this can be 10pm or slightly later in the season. A real late-night bar is hard to find these days. This is not the ‘rules’ that make this happen but the choice of the businessperson running the establishment. Covid recovery still hangs in, with locals and visitors not being the ‘late birds’ they once were. They have got used to that extra bit of TV and Netflix and often stay home, when in the past, they would have gone out.
This week in Soller, the annual rental the bars and restaurants must pay for their terraces was announced. The Town Hall does well out of renting the pavement. The business chatter says this is all well and good but most of the time they are half empty. The discussions will go on about this and decisions will be made.
This is all about the accounts and the spread sheets. Is this business viable with the numbers and how much is spent each night? This is the question in view of the early night preference.
The stories of Soller and the Port being ‘open all hours’ are remembered by the older generation and the visitors who have been coming here for many years.
They think the young have gone soft! To come out of the door at midnight in Soller and not see another soul is weird for them.
The Tardeo movement has something to do with all this. The move towards dining, drinking, and meeting up with friends, starting late afternoon, is happening all over Mallorca, especially at weekends. 5 pm has become the new 11 pm, is the word on the street. Difficult to know if this culture is here to stay or whether more covid recovery time is needed to go back to how it was.
The exception to the Tardeo crowd is those who want to dance after dinner. They still have a problem in the Soller Valley. Those venues are currently hard to find. The weekend use of the late buses into Palma come into their own for these friends. They then plan their return in the early hours by taxi. This is also a shout out to all would be dancers about the venues open on the industrial estates. Some great vibes coming out of Son Castello including Judge Jules on 17th June. This is the over 40’s reliving their rave days. It’s all here in Mallorca but you need to be in the know to track it all down.
Rules, exceptions, and co-existence do their best here and develop all the time. New politicians ready for four years of work might make some inroads on this and we wait for the ideas and the practicalities to start jumping out.