Life’s a beach on Sunday Morning…
Have a look around if if you are heading to the beach today. Apart from all the milky white new arrivals who are desperate for the sun there will be all the little children covered head to toe in the sun avoidance suits. The English visitors have this market cornered and are the only ones that seem to think that the sun is the enemy for their children. The publicity machine in the UK seems to have done a great job in promoting these UV resistant shell suits and they are the only nationality on the beach that do this amazing cover up.
The next sight on a Sunday morning on the beach in the Port of Soller are the groups of local families. The Mallorquins love to assemble a group of assorted family and friends and arrange their chairs in a huge semi circle. The groups are set apart until the ‘wander over’ begins and all these people who have known each other since birth chat and mingle. They eventually stop talking and head into the sea for another chat and then the merienda comes out (mid morning snack). This is a Sunday morning ritual that is all over by 1.30 pm when the chairs are packed away and the exodus from beach to local restaurant begins for Sunday lunch. This is usually paella and always in another large group. Our local friends love the group mentality and are happiest surrounded by their fellow Sollerics.
Historians would say that this is a reaction to the times in the recent past when the gathering of a group was seen as subversive. That maybe so but It’s too big an issue for me to deal with here and the subject of another article. Just look when you are out and about for the two things that say that its Sunday on Soller beaches – the swaddled English children covered from head to foot in ‘protection’ and the extended family groups of the Sollerics and their time honoured Sunday morning ritual.
What ever you are doing today – Have a really happy Sunday …
Classic Repic Photograph by Rachel Fox
