As we head towards September, those of us living on the island are already sighing with relief. Aside from hopefully cooler weather and fewer crowds, there’s a feeling of getting back to normality and having the island for ourselves after a summer of heat, endless traffic and madness.
There has been nothing particularly different about this season. It is always insufferably hot and weighed down with cars and people but it’s so heavenly, when the island can breathe again, and nature can begin to recover.
For many years, there has been rhetoric about all-year round tourism and this has, thankfully, never really got off the ground. What has happened, is that visitors are coming earlier in the year and leaving later. The summer season has extended, rather like a piece of elastic, to incorporate March and October.
This means that islanders have barely four months to recover from the previous season. So I hope this theme will finally die the death and allow residents to enjoy the peace, beauty and vistas of a late autumn and winter. This is a time for small, community fiestas, warm and low-key get-togethers, toasty suppers by a roaring fire, and heavenly hikes in the hills with barely a soul in sight. Ah, how I love winter in Mallorca.
So let’s keep that genie firmly in the bottle, welcome visitors in the warmer months, and allow ourselves and nature the luxury of rest and recovery before the next assault begins.