Spain: Preparing for winter - Sarah Drane, Purple Cake Factory

Preparing for the winter months

On Sunday I took up my favourite position quaffing wine on board a luxury motoryacht in the Med (that’s another few friends who’ll delete me from FaceBook) and we all agreed that it was probably the last gasp of summer fun.

The tourists were retreating and there was a definite whiff of autumn in the air making us grab for a towel after a dip in the sea rather than letting the sunshine dry the drips naturally. A whiff that turned into a blast of anger from Mother Nature later that evening when the skies convulsed in dramatic thunderstorm causing several raindrops to tumble into my wine glass (fortunately shelter was within reach). So this is it, Ms Drane is facing her first winter in Mallorca, the acid test when deciding upon a new location for living.

The living abroad thing has long been mastered. I’ve been a full-time paid-up member of the Costa del Sol fraternity since 2002 and got used to the eccentricities that pepper Spanish society (actually, have I heck, was incredulous the other day when the bank would only let me pay a fine between 8am and 10am on Tuesdays and Thursdays, no rule-bending for me at 12pm on a Wednesday – do you want the bl**dy money or not? I digress…). But after seven years I had a statutory itch to scratch so opted for a meander around Mallorca to see if island life could tick the boxes that mainland couldn’t.

Becoming Mallorcan

As soon as the Denia-Palma ferry set myself and my car down on 14 May I became the new girl in town and faced an uphill challenge of getting to know people and places from scratch. But it was summer, everyone was friendly, the resorts were lively, the sun had his hat on and settling in was far from arduous. Awaiting internet installation ‘a casa’ the waiters in the local restaurant plied me with wine and conversation whilst I ligged their wi-fi. Sneaking into a beauty demonstration in a local bar I met a gaggle of women who, all having a couple of years on me, wanted to tuck me under their wing and include me in their social scene. A bit of eyelid fluttering and a slick of lippy introduced me to yachty types who invited me wakeboarding and kayaking. I liked Mallorca and it liked me.

But, now, winter is looming on the horizon and like all good estate agents say, you need to know a property and a location at different times of day and in different seasons to assess whether it’s right for you. I’ve been fed the horror stories. The ‘Marbellans’ tell me that the Balearics are a bleak wilderness in the winter. They say the nights are long and cold and worse of all, the humidity, your bedsheets cling to you in a cold clammy clutch. The ‘Mallorcans’ tell me that every other bar and restaurant closes for a month or two, Magaluf goes into complete ghost town hibernation until spring (one must be grateful for small mercies) and the urge to ‘get off’ is at its peak around January when there’s a flurry of Balearic IP addresses accessing lastminute.com. I’ll soon find out where the truth lies.

The way I see it is as follows. Mallorca is an outstandingly stunning island. Natural beauty of this kind cannot be found anywhere along the Costa del Sol. The local planning authorities have kept it classy, clean and concrete-jungle free so whilst the days may be cool, there’s always something to admire and explore. Meanwhile, although heat cannot be guaranteed (highs hover around 15 degrees in December, January and February), sunshine can and the island has over 300 days of the stuff each year. That should keep me smiling.

So I welcome the winter with open arms, let the adventure continue and if those sheets get a bit damp, well, there’s always dehumidifiers…

Sarah Drane

Sarah is the proprietor of Purple Cake Factory, an Award-winning company that specializes in real estate, marine and travel PR.