November life in the Soller Valley takes on the same look every year. Tradition means some leave for a few days to have their London experience at the World Travel Market. The biggest showcase of the tourism year happens in November. Politicians, Hoteliers, and tourism professionals of Mallorca all need to hear what is being said this year. They have many ears to please back at home. They are waiting for the official line to be announced. Then they will go home armed with information ready to follow the party line. They have many hills to climb this year as staff costs and retention are at the top of the list. The salaries, no matter how reasonable, do not cover the increased rents and cost of living. The stress level on staff means many leave and opt for different life or even move away. Life isn’t secure in the employment world and that is because workers will only endure so much. The employer’s lot is not a happy one as constant recruiting and training is not a good place to be for months of the year.
The awfulness and dreadful sadness in the Valencia region have caused a flurry of activities around the torrents of Soller. Everyone has opinions on these water courses which are overgrown and then cleared every year. Water experts come in and raise alarms and then urgent work is undertaken. No-one ever thinks this is good enough. The chatter this week is full of those saying the Town Hall should do better in their clearance work.
Hotels have begun to close now in Soller and the Port. Some restaurants too, except for those who are bucking the trend. Thanksgiving will be celebrated at Groenk Restaurant in Fornalutx for the first time. I hope our newly arrived American resident families know about this and join the celebrations.
This week we see a new USA President and a new leader of the Conservative party. The Prime Minister of Spain was pelted with mud for the slowness of response to the flooding in Valencia. Politics have occupied so much of our interest this year; I am looking forward to a switch off as the year trundles towards its end. I am sure there are many in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza who would love to say they were switching off too. Unfortunately, the world and its wars just keep on. The rest of us hold on to ourselves as best we can.
Last weekend we had thousands of runners in Soller. They were part of the new UTMB race with events over three days .The torrential rain cancelled the first races. The rest were able to continue for the next two days. Many people arrived who were only booked for the first race. Instead of running, they enjoyed the hospitality and friendship of local people who were feeling very sorry for them. The word out there is that everyone, runners or not, had a great time and are looking forward to being back in November 2025.
The question of the week is when are you putting your Christmas decorations up? Newly arrived residents have different traditions and observe the more American style of switching on the lights, and becoming all things Christmas, as Thanksgiving finishes. This means their houses will be Christmas ready on Friday 29th November. ‘Oh no’ say those who do not even decorate a tree till Christmas Eve. The Christmas lights are already in place in Palma and in some places in Soller, but they are not switched on yet. Palma always has an end of November switch on, but Soller waits till around December 8th. The programme of Christmas and New Year Events is due to be published this week. We are ahead of the game in Soller this year.
As all the half term families go home, Soller and the Port watch the place change into the tidy up and lock up zone. The sunbeds and umbrellas leave the beach. Restaurants closed for the winter put up their winter barricades. The storms over the next couple of months can cause havoc. Most businesses do a great job of making sure their premises are storm safe. Time for the people to have a rest…