Puerto Soller still lives with the influences of its military past. New visitors may not even know the history, but locals will fill you in if you are interested. The Ports Authority appear to have taken over some of these historical military acquisitions and out of that come odd stories. For instance, the Ports Authority have transferred the Oratory of Sant Ramon, in the Port to the Town Hall for 4 years. This building houses the activities of the Third Age in the Port. This is a good decision in the short term but does not please the many voices who want everything back permanently under local jurisdiction.
The many faceted story, of the only park in Puerto Soller, would occupy many words. Suffice it to say that when the military gave this requestioned park back to the people, it has remained very used, but unloved. History and strong feelings have got in the way of this being made a beautiful local space. Currently it is well used by families and sports groups but all the promises for beautification and repair have not started yet. The only action lately is to make a corner of it into a public car park.
The Mayor made a speech this week which said out of the last 4 years of their leadership 27 projects, out of the 52 planned, have been completed. They are now playing a quick catch up with the rest. No wonder we hear much about new initiatives which then slip into the ‘to do later’ bin. The first 100 days of the new leaders have passed. I don’t know what has been achieved but this week the neighbourhood forums start. These will give locals the opportunity to challenge the politicians on what they are doing. The focus has been diverted to the rebuild of the collapsed Defensora Theatre. This will occupy a lot of chatter in the meetings plus the endless concern about parking, especially for residents.
This week work has begun on the demolition of the Citric Hotel on the road from the Repic Beach up to the Lighthouse. This is going to occupy us for the whole of the winter. No sooner had the workers arrived on Monday to begin clearing the land around the site when the protests were being heard. Everyone has a view about the trees which are coming down. The Citric was the last remaining one-star hotel in Mallorca, loved by many, with a generation of memories for visitors. No more stories of a cheap stay with multiple eccentricities, the bulldozers are in. This is going to be such a spectator sport. It is rare that a genuine new build happens in the hotel world of Puerto Soller. Many annual refurbishments but not the full implementation of an architect’s plans.
This is also the week where repairs are being done to the two road tunnels in our world. When work is scheduled the tunnels close overnight from 11 pm to 6am. The route for the Sa Mola Tunnel is easy as traffic gets diverted round the seafront. The main Soller Tunnel is much trickier. The route for that journey is a drive up the Coll Mountain with its 52-hairpin bends or go the long way via Valldemossa and Deya.
I have done both these roads in past tunnel closures and in the dark they are a bit of a challenge. Meeting low lying fog, on the sea road past Valldemossa, is one memory I will never forget. The answer is a self-imposed curfew and get back through the tunnel before 11 pm.