It was the summer of ‘69 when New Yorker Bruce Whitehill rocked up in Mallorca aged 23. “I had done my year in the domestic peace corps as a volunteer and was planning on studying social psychology, but I decided to travel first; things were not great in the States. So, I left the United States in 1969, a time of protest and upheaval because of the US involvement in the Vietnam War.
The majority of the population was against government policies, it was very unsettling, rather like the current situation. What’s going on in the US now is nothing less than fascism, an unhinged power push by a money-hungry megalomaniac wannabe dictator who sees himself as the panacea for all the world’s ills. I will not visit the U.S. again while he or his cronies remain in power. And considering what I’ve written on my Facebook page, Bruce Whitehill USA in Ger, it’s probably not safe for me, even as a born-and-raised US citizen,” he told the Bulletin this week, having returned to Palma at the end of last November, some 55 years after having left Mallorca for a “trip down memory lane”.
Bruce is a man of many talents and during his year living in an apartment with two Canadians overlooking the sea in Darsena C’an Barbara in front of the Club de Mar, he wrote a song. One of the verses helps explain why he left the United States:
“Children play war as a fantasy,
Politicians play with words in their head,
But the ones who must fight in reality,
They’re the ones who leave death or leave dead.”
“I left the States, I was, am, a writer with a great sense of curiosity but not a journalist, and headed for Europe and I loved Mallorca. It was a wonderful year, I found the people so welcoming and there was such a great mix of people, so much going on. I guess we lived a good life in the apartment, we had a cleaner who used to do our ironing, It was the only time in my life that I had my socks and underwear ironed,” he jokes.
“I was always meeting new people and I wrote about some of them for the Majorca Daily Bulletin. One was about a group of body builders from England who I came across at a swimming pool one day, another about a group of Spanish singers. These guys performed in the theatre in Palma near where I lived. I heard them through the window, their music coming from the apartment in which they were staying temporarily. The instrumentation and vocal harmonies were so great, I rang the doorbell to tell them so and ask who they were and where they were from. They invited me in and finished their rehearsal by singing every song directly to me in their living room. (I said they were from South America, but they were from Madrid.)
“And having come from Germany in my station wagon, I soon found myself organising tours. It all came about one day when I came across a group of five British women who were trying to find a taxi they would fit into to go out to see a traditional Mallorca show with dinner. I offered to take them. We had a great evening, I was invited for dinner, they paid the petrol and when we left the owner called me back and paid me commission for having brought a group of clients. I suddenly realised this was a good number, so before I knew it I was regularly taking tourists out of Palma to see the shows being staged around Mallorca; it was a great year,” Bruce recalls.
“One evening, I sang in The Guitar Centre, where I spent a few evenings listening to music and where I knew the main singer – I can’t remember if he was a host or owner or ‘just‘ a performer. He invited me on stage to sing the protest song I wrote after I had arrived in Palma,” he added. “I have great memories of Mallorca and that is why I came back, to see where I lived and how things had changed. I remember having to negotiate the winding road of Joan Miro to get into town, dodging the traffic - there was no sidewalk then, that has not improved much. But now there is the freeway along the sea front, so while walking into the centre is easier, there is much more traffic though I was very impressed with the public bus service.
“That said, Palma is no longer the quiet, calm and idyllic city I remember. What really struck me was how busy the city is now. To be honest I was not that surprised. I had an idea how much tourism had grown, I could see it coming way back in 1969. But, although I didn’t have time to rediscover Mallorca as a whole, I think people have to be careful looking to the future. They need to look after this wonderful island and, to be quite frank, I will not be coming back.
“I would go back to Mallorca to see the sites I missed on this last quick trip in November, if it weren’t for the many places I want to go that I haven’t seen yet, and the wonderful, favourite places I want to return to, such as Ireland and Iceland (and New Zealand and Peru, but they’re too far). I do visit friends in Barcelona a lot, so I still come to Spain, but Mallorca, I don’t think so.
“That said, I know of many people leaving the United States because of the political and social climate and I would certainly recommend Mallorca to any American looking for a new home,” Bruce, who now lives north of Hannover in Germany, said. “On my trip down memory lane I found the people to be as welcoming and kind as ever and I felt safe and that is something very important, especially for Americans.
“The island, Palma in particular, has a great history of American tourism and some of the great politicians and artists have visited the island over the decades. It has a very colourful history and it’s the perfect spot for an island getaway. Perhaps my memories are so good, but like most places they are never the same again. Places, just like life, move on and Palma and Mallorca in general has moved on leaps and bounds. Some people will obviously like it, others might not,” Bruce said.
“But it was great to see my old apartment is still there. I nearly managed to get into what is a block to take some pictures but the concierge, although very polite, would not let me in. Even so, I managed to grab a quick picture,” he said. “That year in Mallorca turned out to be the beginning of a seven-year trip around the world.
On December 2, 1969, the day after the first draft lottery for the Vietnam War was held, The New York Times published a comprehensive list of all the draft priority numbers to be sent to fight in Vietnam by birth date in an article on the front page. The number for my birthday was well over 300, so I knew there was almost no chance of being called up, and I could continue my journey, one that lasted seven years.
“I’m now 79 and I’ve lead an interesting life, winding up in Germany after meeting a German woman and marrying her - my first marriage - after I had turned 60. By profession, I am an author, writer and game inventor, as well as being a games historian (www.thebiggamehunter.com). Plus, I am a photographer and will never forget Mallorca.”