Nov 2 at 7:27 PM
Soller’s graveyard and Halloween 2014
photographs by RACHEL FOX
Published in the Majorca Daily Bulletin Tuesday 4th November 2014
It is said that you cannot understand the heart of Soller until you have spent time in its Cemetery. This is a five layered area more like a beautiful public park than a graveyard. Since 1820 this place has buried the remains of the people of Soller and the history and wealth of the area are fully represented in its garden walls. The site chosen at the foothills of the mountain above the station give the dead the view they might have wished for. The glory of the mountains behind and the majesty of the Soller Valley and the sea ahead and out in the distance.
The Cemetery has been extended a number of times, the last was in 1989. This gives each layer of the place a history all of its own. Did you know that it was as late as 1975 that any non Catholics were buried in their own place near the door away from the main graves of the place. It is here you will still find a cluster of English people alongside Germans and Danes who died here ‘not in the faith’.
The photographs on the graves tell their own story and give a pictorial view of Soller history both in the clothes and hairstyles. The beautiful trees, plants and flowers in this place make it a work of art and many people just go there to sit amongst all the beauty. The sculptures and art work that mark out graves and the edifices of wealthy people are all worthy of a fine museum.
The celebration of ALL SAINTS DAY on Saturday 1st November 2014 was a very important day in Soller’s calendar. Plants, flowers and daisy pots were taken to the place in their thousands and left at the gravesides. Families drove from other places to be in Soller Cemetery with their loved ones to commemorate this special day. The place was full of people, flowers and chatter and the police had to direct the traffic to the area – it really was that busy. At 4pm the Cemetery quietened down for a communal mass and the priest led the thoughts and prayers of all the people gathered there.
Last Friday Halloween arrived in Soller and the Port – nothing new there you might think if you live anywhere other than here. Halloween has gathered momentum everywhere but until this year it was squashed in Soller. Some of the people and certainly the local church are not happy about the celebrations of Halloween and the much has been said about not playing with witchcraft and the occult. The genie was out of the bottle here and huge organised groups of children in great costumes accompanied by their parents roamed the streets. They called in to Café Soller while I was there and were given a healthy Soller orange as their trick or treat present! The Camp de Football Park in the Port of Soller was the gathering place for all the witches, ghouls and the adults of the Port and the children all had a great time. The people of Soller love to dress up and are great fans of carnival and fancy dress so for them Halloween was another opportunity in their year to do just that. I am sure that this debate will explode in the local papers next week as it was such a marked change from what has been the norm in the past. An interesting debate ahead.
Soller is beginning to close some of its doors for the winter holidays. This region is different from many other part of Majorca because it starts to open again from February to accommodate all the walkers and cyclists who love that time of year. The Hotels that are still open in November are giving great offers to the Residents of Majorca. – Check out the Esplendido and the Residencia for their special end of season treats. Sue Lloyd Robert’s hotel – Can Reus – up in Fornalutx is open all year and always has been – Sue is a passionate supporter of year round tourism to the Soller Valley .
As the doors shut on some of the hotels and restaurants the new businesses are just rolling in to Soller. We have had two new hairdressers open in the past two weeks and there are many other shop fronts that are almost ready to launch. It is very exciting to see what they will emerge as. Soller is busy and buzzing with entrepreneurs and the launch this week of the most exciting party pop-up to appear in Soller gave us a great party for “Glace Moustache”, a 1964 completely restored, Soller based -Citroën HY- available for hire for Photo shoots or fully catered vintage parties. I can leave you with a picture to whet your appetite – more stories of this wonderful machine coming soon.
.jpg)
