I have traveled halfway around the world, and I have always fallen in love with islands. But Mallorca became my home. The island that everyone has an opinion about, even if many people only know its busy face and not its true heart. Mallorca is deeply affected by the pandemic. And every time we regain hope, a new setback comes along. Atrapado en el tiempo – whatever we do, we cannot escape the situation. Even those who do not have to go to hospital or to the colas del hambre wonder how life will continue if the crisis hits another season. When the bills pile up but there is no income.
In spring last year we all stayed home, proud of discipline and cohesion. And of the fact that numbers dropped as temperatures rose. Wasn’t it wonderful at first not to share the island with so many travelers? To experience the island how it used to be? But let’s face it. Mallorca was never like that. It’s also thanks to the curiosity of tourists and the commitment of people from all over the world that almost forgotten traditions have been revived. That olive oil and wine, almonds and oranges, fabrics and pottery are once again valued and bought. That restaurants and bakeries are cooking and baking from old recipes again. And that we are not trapped in the past, but embrace new ideas.
When a place like Bon Lloc has to close its doors after 42 years, we will miss more than a pioneer of vegetarian and vegan cuisine. The Bon Lloc team was also an avant-garde of social awakening in the post-Franco era. Along with artists like La Movida or Rossy de Palma. Culture is not just a leisure activity, as some would have you believe.
What encourages me are all those who do not give up. Who are there for each other. Who, wherever they can, support local trade, the small store, café or restaurant in the barrio. And who don’t forget those who can no longer afford to do so. Every year in early spring nature provides comfort when the tender green of young leaves announces new life. When the ancient, gnarled almond trees blossom again. And tell us that winter, that cold and darkness are about to end, soon. 
