SOLLER – The Island within an Island in Mallorca had its own gas and electricity supply one hundred years ago..
Always ahead of its time and independent to the core – To be a Solleric was a respected status then and now…
The company El Gas S.A. brought gaslights to Sóller in 1893. In 1908, another company Eléctrica Sollerense, founded in 1907, built a hydroelectric power station in the municipality at Sa Costera, taking advantage of water from Font des Verger, a spring whose waters flowed toward the sea. The electricity station has been closed since the 1960s and water from Sa Costera is now piped to Sóller and Palma. One of the most spectacular hikes in the Serra de Tramuntana leads to Sa Costera.
Sa Costera power station did not produce enough electricity, and a thermal power station was also added. El Gas S.A. took over Eléctrica Sollerense’s assets and ran both power stations. It is interesting to know that the voltage in Sóller was 150 volts. The transfer to 220 volts began in 1969, although last September, according to the local newspaper Veu de Sóller, 840 consumers were still waiting to be changed over from 150 volts.
Information courtesy of ‘Histories de la Serra
