Ten years ago, nearly two million people switched over to BBC2 on to watch Michael Portillo bring his latest series of Great Continental Railway Journeys to an end in Puerto Soller. Portillo and a TV crew came to Majorca to film the Balearic stage of his attempt to trace the early 20th-century roots of the Spanish Civil War, which divided his family and sent his father into exile.
The former politician discovered a nation fractured at the time by social tensions and regional loyalties, which today offer a rich diversity of cultures to delight the tourist. And after arriving in Majorca from Barcelona, Michael spoiled himself enjoying spectacular scenic views aboard the 1912 vintage railway to Soller and the 1913 tram down to the port where he proclaimed that there is so much more to Majorca than just sun and sea and recommended that people come to the island to enjoy the Soller train experience.
And this month, British travel expert Lauren Jade has follwed in Portillo’s footsteps and has posted an amazing TikTok video of the Soller train journey from Palma to Soller and she loved it. In the caption of her post she wrote: “Majorca’s BEAUTIFUL train ride. This is the Palma to Soller train and it traverses through the incredible Serra de Tramuntana mountains, citrus groves and tunnels carved by hand.”
The historic electric train takes a route north from the capital across the plains, winding through mountains and 13 tunnels of the Serra de Tramuntana, finally ending in the railway station of the northern town of Soller.
Work began on the railway in 1911 on the profits of the orange and lemon trade, which at the time was booming. For this reason, it is sometimes known as the Orange Express.
The train is now not only a mode of transport between these two key Mallorcan settlements, but also an attraction in itself, carrying over one million passengers a year.
The highest point of the train route is in the 2876-metre-long crest tunnel. Immediately afterwards, the train stops at the Mirador del Pujol d’en Banya viewpoint above Soller. But the Soller railway is not only a popular tourist attraction, it also had an important economic significance early on.