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SOLLER - SPAIN
Sóller is a town near the northwest coast of
Majorca, in the Balearic Islands of Spain. As of 2004, the present-day
economy is based mainly on tourism, complementary to an agriculture based on
massive orchards of citrus and olive trees, which has, in recent years,
suffered from low prices. Sóller is also known for the houses built in the
early twentieth century by emigrants who returned wealthy to the town.
Since 1980, Sóller has hosted a week-long international folklore festival
every July.
The town proper
is some 3 km inland, from the Port de Sóller, in a large, bowl-shaped valley
that also includes the village of Fornalutx and the hamlet of Biniaraix. The
combined population is around 12,000.
The Torre Picada (watchtower) and the castle in the port were constructed in
the 16th century to defend against the "Corsairs" or Barbary pirates. Part
of the town was also fortified, but all that remains of this is a piece of
the wall near the parish church.
Sóller is linked by rail, and by a highway with a toll tunnel, to the
Majorcan capital of Palma. The Andratx-Pollença highway also runs through
the valley.
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