Soller is not a village or town it is a CITY
A straw poll of Soller visitors and residents were asked this week what they knew about the status of Soller. Is it a town , village or even a City? The answer to this like so many of Soller’s questions can be found in the Museum and I spent the morning finding out. I had done my research and thought I knew the answer. Wikipedia told me that Soller was a town and a municipality with a population between 14 – 15, 000 people. I presented myself at the museum and asked the assembled volunteers the question ‘Is Soller a town or a city?’
They all listened to my question and began filling in the gaps in my knowledge.
They told me of the planned visit to Soller by King Alfonso X111 on April 24th 1904. The King was to arrive on board the Royal Yacht Giralda and dock in the Port of Soller before visiting the town. The town was made beautiful for the visit with triumphal arches being erected in the streets. The powers that be had heard that the King loved Soller and was about to bestow the City status as an honour to the town. In anticipation of this the iron archways bore the name ‘City of Soller’. Like all good plans this one didn’t quite go to form. The weather was rough, the yacht could not dock and the visit did not take place. Nevertheless in 1905 the King created The City of Soller. No longer a town but a City for ever.
Soller is a City and like the smaller cities in the UK the decision to honour it was not made on the size of the population but on the quality of the community. It is an honour to be called a City but the status does not give additional powers, voting rights or funding. In the UK the majority of Cities have Cathedrals but that does not officially apply here in Majorca. There are however those that say that our church in Soller’s main square is more important than a parish church and it goes with the City title. You will often hear locals talking about ‘their Cathedral’. So Wikipedia is wrong and so are all the guide books – I can tell you categorically that us English speaking Sollerics live in the ‘City of Soller.’
