Soller in August is where everyone wants to be
Published in the Majorca Daily Bulletin
Tuesday 5th August 2014
The language of the City of Soller at present is a race between Majorcan and French. The English and German languages hardly get a look in. It is amazing how for five weeks in July and August every year the place becomes like a suburb of Paris . The history of Soller tells the tale of the French connection and it is easy to understand why the grandchildren and great grandchildren of the marriages between Soller and France return each year. For any new reader I have to direct you to the Museum of Soller in a side street near the Post Office. There you will learn the stories of the Vicar Fiquet who was the Matchmaker of Soller. He arranged marriages for the exiled boys of Soller who left the Valley to work in France when the harvest failed many years ago. The girls who were interested in meeting one of the ‘returners’ registered with the vicar (or at least her family did on her behalf). The quaint stories of the girls taking a peep at the proposed introduction from an upstairs window to the hastily arranged marriage a few days later are the stuff of a film script. There are said to be 1671 weddings that were arranged by Vicar Fiquet and that translates into a lot of people with a Soller connection who live in France . Many of these people have family houses in Soller and they decamp every year at this time and then leave us immediately after the San Bartholomew Fiesta at the end of August.
August is celebrity spotting time in Soller and Deia and we switch between thinking ‘leave these people alone to enjoy their holiday’ to messaging each other with the details of the latest famous arrival. The majority of Sollerics would not dream of talking to them or interfering with their holiday in any way they are just proud that they have chosen our special neck of the woods for their precious holiday time. This week Bruce Springsteen has been around – last week it was Jamie Oliver and Tom Hanks. It’s all great fun to see the posh helicopters fly in and then met with cars with blacked out windows – the imagination runs riot and then we discover it’s an expensive corporate businessman that we have never heard of. All part of the summer fun of the Soller Valley .
The King of Spain is holding a reception on Thursday for the great and the good in the palace by the cathedral in Palma . The dignitaries of Soller have been invited and this is the ‘must attend’ function of the year. It’s not every day that the new King comes to stay in Majorca and issues initiations. The only problem with this is that it is on the same evening that the premiere of musical’ El Train de Soller’ was due to take place. The special people of Soller had accepted the invitation to be at the red carpet affair and then as their invitations from the King arrived they sent their apologies. I have it on very good authority that the El Train De Soller organisation knows that the King comes first so they have re- arranged the opening night to Friday 8th August 2014 at 8 pm. The Sala Augusta will roll out the red carpet and El Tren de Soller will have its special moment after all albeit a day later than planned.
Meanwhile back in Soller our summer beach life in being enhanced as never before by live music. If you take a walk from end to end of the perfect horseshoe bay you will be amazed at the restaurants hosting singers, guitarists, trios and more. The hotels have always had a summer tradition of providing after dinner music as entertainment but never before has it spread to every venue. I walked this route myself this week – for the purposes of research and counted 14 places with live music and that was on the first line alone. The Marina Hotel has entertainment outside their fine building on the Repic Beach every night and has such great acts that for certain nights clients from Palma drive through the tunnel to listen. The music of the Soller Valley is well catalogued and we all just love the variety that is available here but right now for residents it is a great place to be. Last Sunday – Monkey Doo the fabulous swing band entertained in Soller and the Big YuYu Blues Band are always to be found in the Porto Soller Hotel on Mondays. Agapanto has a team of great singers and musicians and one of them – Daniyella – launched her new CD this week from the beach outside the restaurant. These are a few examples of the quality of musicians we are enjoying here this year.
So as August gets hotter and the only place to be is on the beach we have plenty to occupy us. Music, celebrities to gossip about, beach life and the returning friends who join us for a few weeks before fading away until next spring. Soller and the Hidden Valley in summer – there really is no place like it – come and see us soon.
