"They put places that tourists don't know in green and will end up massifying everything"
Crowded streets, road collapse, expelled residents, disappearing traditional shops... The only novelty in Sóller is that the neighbours are increasingly angry
PalmaIt is enough to spend a few minutes in Carrer de la Lluna in Sóller to realize how difficult it is to find any 'native' there. There isn't a tourist guide that doesn't recommend visiting this spot in town, and it shows. It's also hard to walk without bumping into someone, and finding a traditional shop is now almost impossible. “About four businesses close a year on this street. My mother has a haberdashery there, and when she retires, no one will take it over. They'll put in another souvenir shop. The photography shop closed, and the clothing shop geared towards the island's residents. In fact, I used to be able to buy a book in Sóller. And now there's no bookstore,” explains Bartomeu Miró, a resident of the town and spokesperson for SOS Sóller, a citizen movement that has not stopped denouncing that the situation is unsustainable.
At the Palma Intermodal Station, it is easy to find the bus to go to Sóller. You just have to follow a long queue, full of tourists. There are still 20 minutes before it leaves, the driver hasn't arrived, and everything suggests that the vehicle will be filled with the people waiting. Upon entering, a screen reminds you that you cannot board public transport in swimwear, a practice that Majorcans don't usually do. The bus starts, and indeed, there are passengers who will have to make the journey standing up.
Measures that don't work
“The situation is the same as other years, with the difference that there is more accumulated fatigue each time”, says Miró. As for the measures that the City Council has put in place, only one is working, and it's doing so at half speed: the green parking zone for residents. “Many tourists who come by car are desperate and end up parking there”, explains Elvira, a resident of Sóller who endures the overcrowding with resignation. “I'm the first one who then likes to travel”, she says, surrounded by people going back and forth on Carrer de la Lluna.
Another initiative has been to implement a Low Emission Zone (LEZ), which has harmed Majorcans more than tourists, to control access to the center. “Foreigners see the sign and don't care. Also, rental cars are new and low emission. If you are registered, you have a pass, but people who are not registered and are from the island cannot enter,” comments Miró, giving examples: people who have recently moved in and have not yet registered and professionals who are not from Sóller, but who have to go to the town to carry out a procedure or a job.
Then there are the illuminated signs that “show the status of the parking lots, but not of the town” – many people go to Sóller by train and bus. “It is an unreliable system. A civil servant does it, and it shows places that tourists didn't know about in green, like Cala Tuent. They will end up massifying everything,” laments Miró.
After queuing for a while, the bus drops the passengers off near the centre. They walk in a line, as if going to a pilgrimage site. Souvenir shops appear as they approach their destination. And there are also more and more real estate agencies, with photographs of homes in their shop windows and prices that no worker on the island could afford. "Dream property in a stunning setting, with ETV [tourist rental] license," explains a one-bedroom house worth €870,000. Another advertisement points out that the property is in the Serra: "A unique opportunity in the Serra de Tramuntana, protected by Unesco." In this case, the price tag goes up, because the price is 13 million euros. In all the houses shown, the same words predominate: "charming", "timeless", "elegant", "jewel" and "exclusive", among others. The descriptions follow the same formulas and the photographs are very well cared for.
The line of newcomers blends in with the thousands of tourists who fill the Plaça de la Constitució from one end to the other. In the church of Sant Bartomeu, there is a large sign in four languages (Spanish, English, German, and French) with a peculiar proposal: to sponsor an organ pipe. Just opposite, at the Local Police offices, it is also explained in four languages how to prevent our personal belongings from being stolen. A little further up, where the tram stops, dozens of people wait under the sun, with some children who are not having any of it. Finally, the tram's whistle is heard, with a multitude of mobile phones emerging from the windows to film the arrival.
Returning to Carrer de la Lluna, a pair of socks with lemons drawn on them, branded ‘Islas Baleares’, catch the eye. Visitors who haven’t found a spot on a terrace to eat are dining while walking or sitting on doorsteps. Joan arrives from an adjacent street and responds immediately and forcefully: “We have a lot of trouble. We are fed up to the back teeth, to put it crudely”, he exclaims, as he grabs his trolley to go to the supermarket. None are seen in the center. Before leaving, he explains that the other day it took him “50 minutes from the Bunyola roundabout to Sóller”. “There is no respite. It’s like this from Monday to Sunday”, he states before leaving.
The conflicts between residents and tourists are escalating, admits Bartomeu Miró. What do the people of Sóller expect from the institutions? “In the Town Hall, they are a bunch of incompetents. The problem is they don’t know anything, they have little capacity. They do as well as they can and it’s not enough. The institutions are the ones who have to fix it, and right now they have neither the capacity nor the political will. Everyone passes the buck”, he concludes.