New Beach for the Port of Soller, Majorca

We had read of the master plan for the harbour and seafront which was published 15 years ago. At the time it seemed highly unlikely that the seafront would be pedestrianised, new parks planted and a new beach created.

The Port of Soller was and still is a fishing village, the boats leave every day and return with the birds circling them waiting for the unwanted fish to be thrown back in the sea. A walk to see the boats return and watch the fish go on their way in refrigerated lorries for Palma and beyond is a pleasure. The tastiest morsels are to be found and sold at the water’s edge. The prawns are said to be the pinkest in the whole of the Mediterranean and 'Soller Prawns' are to be seen all the best menus in our restaurants and beyond. Heston Blumenthal, the celebrated chef, said in an interview last year in the Independent Newspaper that his best meal abroad was 'sucking Soller prawn heads after lightly grilling them on the barbecue for a few minutes, accompanied with a nice cold glass of sherry'. His favourite run is in Majorca between Deia and Port Soller and he has been seen negotiating with the fishermen in his running gear! What an endorsement for our prawns.

There is a huge dredging boat in the bay this week that has been used to transport part of the 8,000 tonnes of sand needed for the new beach. This is spectator sport at its best and the locals are sitting there watching the action. A line of black tubes run from the boat to the shore and a pump moves the sand on its way. That is until the pump gave up and the boat parked itself up for repair. There is an expensive deadline to all this and I am sure that the engineers have been working overnight to fix that pump.

We have two beaches at present. One is Es Traves beach, situated near the harbour and the end of line for the tram. The other is the Repic beach which is to the left of the resort with wall to wall fine restaurants. The new beach is being created in the middle of the bay, pretty much in front of the Esplendido Hotel. A restaurant was demolished and major sea defence walls were built here during the winter in readiness for the new playground. We will all be watching this weekend as the beach takes shape. It is not often that a real piece of engineering happens and everyone wants to see the finished result. This work will be going on throughout the weekend (pump permitting) so do come and see a little history in the making; vindication for all that planning years ago that no one thought would actually happen. Well done Soller.

For more info on Mallorca's beaches visit our guide to the Best Beaches in Mallorca.