Emergency works are beginning today at the Fábrica Nueva de Sóller to ensure the building's safety and halt years of deterioration. The ultimate goal is to transform this listed Building of Cultural Interest (BIC) into the Textile Museum of Mallorca.

The Sóller Town Council will approve a resolution next week, in a plenary session, that will require the owners of the Bàlitx de Enmig estate, belonging to the March family, to remove the barrier that has for years blocked access to a public path included in both the municipal catalog and the Dry Stone Route of the Consell de Mallorca (Mallorca Council). The decision was agreed upon at the last Heritage Committee meeting, where several matters related to the environment and the conservation of public heritage were discussed. According to municipal sources, the resolution will give the owners a maximum of eight days to remove the barrier blocking the path. In case of non-compliance, the Town Council itself will carry out the removal at the owners' expense. The City Council intends to restore normalcy to a historic route connecting Sóller and Fornalutx with La Costera and Cala Tuent, which was irregularly closed in 2009. Although the path is part of the public heritage, no action was taken against the fencing for over a decade. It wasn't until 2021 that the Balearic Government's Environmental Agents reported the situation. This action subsequently led to a fine against the Sóller City Council itself by the Territorial Defense Agency (ADT) of the Council of Mallorca, which imposed a coercive penalty of 600 euros per month for failing to restore public access. This penalty was appealed, and its collection is currently suspended. Attempt to divert the route

Following several complaints and reports, the owners of the estate created an alternative route, aiming to divert hikers away from the main house. However, this detour was not authorized. Initially, the Consell de Mallorca (Mallorca Council) had included this variant within the Dry Stone Route, but ultimately did not admit it in the final approval of the Special Plan, modified in 2022. In addition to the detour, the owners installed information panels that mimicked the official signage of the Consell on mountain routes. This action contributed to confusing hikers and solidified the closure of the historic path, which remains publicly owned and must remain open. With the approval of the resolution, the Sóller City Council takes a step towards ending a conflict that has been entrenched for more than a decade and guaranteeing free access to one of the emblematic sections of the public path network in the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range.

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The glosadas and the picado battles remain a living testament to the oral and festive traditions of the Balearic Islands. The glosadas, poetic improvisations often sung in a duel format, keep alive the critical and satirical spirit of the people, while the picado battles—a kind of verbal and musical game between glosadores—allow participants to test their skill and wit against their rivals.

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It seems the farmers of the Balearic Islands foresaw that avocado toast would become a staple snack in many countries: avocados have been cultivated in the Sóller Valley for almost twenty years. Faced with the need to diversify crops and thanks to the increased demand for avocados, the area's farmers opted for this tropical crop. Some have even uprooted orange trees and replaced them with avocados, whose fruit sells for more than oranges. Furthermore, it ripens after being picked, making it less urgent to harvest than an orange, as it remains green on the tree. There are currently 22.25 hectares of irrigated avocado orchards in Mallorca and 8.32 hectares in Ibiza, primarily of the Hass (the most widely traded variety worldwide) and Bacon varieties. A large portion of the island's avocados are consumed in Europe, especially in Germany.

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The San Bartolomé de Sóller Cooperative—the oldest in Spain at 126 years old—now has an organic olive mill. This project stems from collaboration between farmers and the government, with the aim of improving the quality of the island's olive oil, which "is increasingly competing in a better market and must raise the bar, which is already very high," explains Mique, president of both the San Bartolomé de Sóller Cooperative and the Camp Mallorquí Cooperative. Added to this is the desire to give a boost to the island's industry. "And what better way to do that than through the organic sector?" he asks.

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Surprise and concern among residents and visitors of the port of Sóller. On Monday afternoon, a submarine was seen sailing just a few meters from the coast, setting off alarm bells and curiosity. According to the image published by the Sóller Weekly, the submarine passed just a few meters from the boats anchored in the sea.

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A taxi driver from Sóller has taken to social media to denounce the actions of a local police officer after being fined €200 while accompanying a wheelchair-bound passenger to her home. As he explains in a Facebook post, he stopped the adapted taxi to a disabled parking space near the taxi rank, as the area was occupied by other vehicles, and helped the woman for five minutes to accompany her to her home. When he returned, he was faced with the fine.

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Residents of Sóller have launched the 'Salvem Sóller' initiative through Change.org to denounce the proliferation of new parking lots in the municipality. In the campaign, they warn that five parking lots have already been built—with another three in the pipeline—without a clear mobility strategy and with a strong environmental and landscape impact.

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The tourist overcrowding in Sóller and the arrival of thousands of foreigners year after year has led some of them to decide to buy homes in the town. According to sources from SOS Sóller, there are about twenty real estate agencies in the vicinity of the town square. At the time of writing, the cheapest house listed on the Idealista website costs €255,000, but it only has 52 square meters. It's a third-floor apartment with no elevator. In this context of neighborhood tension due to the problems that Sóller's reputation entails, a local real estate agency has celebrated selling a house to a resident. Real estate agency Tolo Oliver has hung a sign in a window of the residence, which reads: "Sold to people from Sóller, as it should be."

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MÁS por Sóller has called for public management of water to prevent the municipality from finding itself in a critical situation like the current one again. "It is time to plan the remunicipalization of the service and prevent us from reaching critical points like the current one in the future," the group stated in a press release.

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Sóller City Council has updated its measures for water conservation and responsible use and has also imposed restrictions on tourist establishments. Initially, the regulations only reported restrictions for individuals, but this Thursday they issued an updated decree detailing several measures that directly affect hotels, vacation rental homes, bars, restaurants, and cafes.

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Vehicle traffic entering and leaving Sóller increased in the summer of 2025 compared to 2024, which had already broken the previous year's records, according to data from the Consell de Mallorca traffic service. Although the increase did not reach 2%, the months of June and July—complete records are available—the figures confirm that this summer Sóller had more cars than in previous years, which set off alarm bells.

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Controversy in Sóller over water resource management. During the drought, the town council has decided to indefinitely close the municipal swimming pool due to the town's water problems. However, the "surprise" came when residents discovered that the pool at the La Residencia hotel (in Deià, a municipality just 11 kilometers away) "remains open and without any restrictions or limitations," the residents criticized. In fact, tourist establishments are not directly affected by the water restrictions, and they only ask them to inform guests about responsible water use and recommend that they install water-saving systems.

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The former mayor of Fornalutx and president of the Sóller Red Cross, Joan Albertí, has died at the age of 79. Albertí, who led the Town Hall for 12 years, between 2003 and 2015, as a member of the Popular Party, passed away on Tuesday. During his time in local politics, he also chaired the Federation of Local Entities of the Balearic Islands (FELIB), from 2011 to 2015.

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A man drowned at midday on the beach of Port de Sóller, according to emergency services.

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An argument over a parking space in Sóller ended with an assault and a local resident suffering a broken femur. According to the Sóller Local Police, officers prepared a police report via social media, and the case is now before the duty court.

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This Friday, MÁS por Sóller denounced the destruction of an orange grove in Biniaraix to build a car park. The group lamented that the City Council, with the approval of the Consell de Mallorca (Mallorca Council), destroyed a fruit tree orchard and placed concrete blocks on the dry stone margins in an area declared a Site of Cultural Interest (BIC).

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